Neural modulation of canine duodenal bile acid delivery in the interdigestive and postprandial periods.

The neural modulation of gallbladder filling-emptying and duodenal delivery of canine hepatic biliary output was studied in conscious dogs using transient cold blockade or transection of the cervical vagosympathetic nerves previously isolated in skin loops on either side of the neck. Gallbladder filling-emptying was defined as the algebraic difference between a steady-state rate of hepatic secretion [established by a continuous intravenous infusion of [14C]taurocholic acid (TCA)] and the duodenal rate of delivery of [14C]TCA (measured by duodenal marker perfusion). Duodenal motility was recorded manometrically. Experiments in the fasted and fed state were performed under control conditions, during cold blockade, and after transection of the cervical vagosympathetic nerves. Under control conditions: 1) during fasting, the majority of hepatic [14C]TCA output was stored in the gallbladder during the first half of the migrating myoelectric complex (MMC). An increased rate of duodenal delivery and partial gallbladder emptying occurred before phase III of the MMC. 2) Feeding induced an immediate increase in duodenal bile acid delivery and gallbladder emptying. After cold blockade or transection: 1) partial gallbladder emptying before phase III of the MMC was abolished. 2) The immediate postprandial increase in duodenal bile acid delivery and gallbladder emptying was abolished even when the animal received a continuous duodenal infusion of the duodenal aspirate of another fed animal (to control for the effect of impaired gastric emptying after cold blockade). In addition, cold blockade significantly reduced the effect of an exogenous infusion of cholecystokinin octapeptide on gallbladder emptying. These results suggest that neurons in the canine cervical vagosympathetic nerves play a major role in the regulation of rhythmic partial emptying of the gallbladder in the interdigestive period, coordinate a cephalic phase of postprandial gallbladder emptying, and are important in mediating the effects of cholecystokinin on the gallbladder during the gastric and enteric phases of postprandial gallbladder emptying.