The Hepatic Transport of Sodium Taurocholate in the Rat: Effect of Phenobarbitone

Abstract

S U M M A R Y 1. The effect of pretreatment with phenobarbitone on the hepatic transport of sodium 14C-taurocholate was studied in the Sprague Dawley rat. Taurocholate solutions were injected into the portal vein in a volume of 0.2 ml in 2 s.2. Biliary secretion of taurocholate injected into the portal vein in a concentration of 25 PM was not altered by pretreatment with phenobarbitone. This concentration of taurocholate corresponds to that occurring normally in portal venous blood.3. When taurocholate was injected in a much larger concentration (13 mM), biliary secretion of taurocholate was significantly slower in phenobarbitonepretreated rats than in control rats. 4.Changes in hepatic bile salt transport do not appear to contribute to the choleresis that occurs with phenobarbitone.