EFFECTS OF PHENOBARBITAL TREATMENT ON BILIARY EXCRETION IN MAN

The purpose of our study was to establish the presence of a chemical or latent cholestasis in pathological states, where it may be assumed that somehow the transport system for anionic excretion can be impaired in the pathological process. In some cases, as in Gilbert’s disease or hepatic cirrhosis, there is an inborn or ac-quired hepatic abnormality which gives rise to cholestasis. In other cases we studied, an in-trinsic or extrinsic steroid hormonal load dis-turbs the hepatic pathway for anionic excretion. After establishing the presence of a manifest or latent cholestasis, we tried to correct it by ex-ploiting the enhancing effect of phenobarbital on the excretion of anionic dyes