Bile acid active and passive ileal transport in the rabbit: effect of luminal stirring

Abstract. The intestinal absorption of bile acids (BA) with different chemical structure has been evaluated in the rabbit, after intestinal infusion of different concentrations (025–30 mM) of BA, by mesenteric blood sampling. Cholic (CA), chenodeoxycholic (CDCA), ursodeoxycholic (UDCA) acid, free and taurine (T‐) conjugated, together with glycocholic (GCA) acid and deoxycholic acid (DCA) were studied. The apparent uptake parameters were calculated. All conjugated BA showed active transport (T max, nmol min‐1 cm‐1 int.), with Tmax values in the following order: TCA > TUDCA > TCDCA; uncon‐jugated BA showed passive uptake, with values in the following order: DCA > CDCA > UDCA > CA. GCA and CA showed both passive uptake and active transport. For all BA studied the % uptake in the ileal segment considered was less than 10%, BA uptake being thus limited by transport and/or diffusion kinetics, rather than by flow velocity. The liquid resistance to BA radial diffusion inside the lumen was evaluated, and the infusate‐to‐blood uptake parameters corrected for it, in order to get the uptake parameters from the epithelium‐to‐liquid interface to mesenteric blood: the apparent Km decreased, passive uptake coefficient increased, while Tmax was unchanged. The passive component of the uptake, corrected for the luminal resistance, correlated with the BA hydro‐phobicity (r = 0–963; P<0–01). These studies show that: (a) the active transport for BA in the rabbit ileum is mediated by a saturable, high‐efficiency, low‐affinity carrier; (b) that passive transport is highly efficient for unconjugated BA, mainly for the most lipophilic ones; (c) that both systems are important in the intestinal absorption of BA. Copyright © 1992, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved