Effects of bile acids on the muscle functions of guinea pig gallbladder

and Jose Behar. Effects of bile acids on the muscle func-tions of guinea pig gallbladder. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 283: G87–G94, 2002. First published March 28, 2002; 10.1152/ajpgi.00536.2001.—Hydrophobic bile acids im-pair gallbladder emptying in vivo and inhibit gallbladder muscle contraction in response to CCK-8 in vitro. This study was aimed at determining the mechanisms of muscle cell dysfunction caused by bile acids in guinea pig gallbladders. Muscle cells were obtained by enzymatic digestion. Tauro-chenodeoxycholic acid (TCDC), a hydrophobic bile acid, caused a contraction of up to 15 % and blocked CCK-induced contraction. Indomethacin abolished the TCDC-induced con-traction. Hydrophilic bile acid tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDC) had no effect on muscle contraction but prevented the TCDC-induced contraction and its inhibition on CCK