Bile
Bile (from Latin bilis), or gall, is a yellow-green fluid produced by the liver of most vertebrates that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is primarily composed of water, produced continuously by the liver, and stored and concentrated in the gallbladder. After a human eats, this stored bile is discharged into the first section of their small intestine.[1]
Composition
In the human
Function
Bile or gall acts to some extent as a
The dispersion of food fat into micelles provides a greatly increased surface area for the action of the enzyme
Since bile increases the absorption of fats, it is an important part of the absorption of the fat-soluble substances,[10] such as the vitamins A, D, E, and K.[11]
Besides its digestive function, bile serves also as the route of excretion for bilirubin, a byproduct of red blood cells recycled by the liver. Bilirubin derives from hemoglobin by glucuronidation.
Bile tends to be
Clinical significance
In the absence of bile, fats become indigestible and are instead excreted in
The cholesterol contained in bile will occasionally accrete into lumps in the gallbladder, forming gallstones. Cholesterol gallstones are generally treated through surgical removal of the gallbladder. However, they can sometimes be dissolved by increasing the concentration of certain naturally occurring bile acids, such as chenodeoxycholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid.[17][18]
On an empty stomach – after repeated vomiting, for example – a person's vomit may be green or dark yellow, and very bitter. The bitter and greenish component may be bile or normal digestive juices originating in the stomach.[19] Bile may be forced into the stomach secondary to a weakened valve (pylorus), the presence of certain drugs including alcohol, or powerful muscular contractions and duodenal spasms. This is known as biliary reflux.[20]
Obstruction
Biliary obstruction refers to a condition when
Society and culture
In medical theories prevalent in the West from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, the body's health depended on the equilibrium of four "humors", or vital fluids, two of which related to bile: blood, phlegm, "yellow bile" (choler), and "black bile". These "humors" are believed to have their roots in the appearance of a blood sedimentation test made in open air, which exhibits a dark clot at the bottom ("black bile"), a layer of unclotted erythrocytes ("blood"), a layer of white blood cells ("phlegm") and a layer of clear yellow serum ("yellow bile").[23]
Excesses of black bile and yellow bile were thought to produce depression and aggression, respectively, and the Greek names for them gave rise to the English words cholera (from Greek χολή kholē, "bile") and melancholia. In the former of those senses, the same theories explain the derivation of the English word bilious from bile, the meaning of gall in English as "exasperation" or "impudence", and the Latin word cholera, derived from the Greek kholé, which was passed along into some Romance languages as words connoting anger, such as colère (French) and cólera (Spanish).[24]
Soap
Soap can be mixed with bile from mammals, such as ox gall. This mixture, called bile soap[25] or gall soap, can be applied to textiles a few hours before washing as a traditional and effective method for removing various kinds of tough stains.[26]
Food
During the Boshin War, Satsuma soldiers of the early Imperial Japanese Army reportedly ate human livers boiled in bile.[28] The practice of eating a slain enemy's liver, known as hiemondori (冷え物取り), was a tradition of the Satsuma people.
Bears
In regions where bile products are a popular ingredient in traditional medicine, the use of bears in bile-farming has been widespread. This practice has been condemned by activists, and some pharmaceutical companies have developed synthetic (non-ursine) alternatives.[29]
Principal acids
See also
- Bile acid sequestrant
- Enterohepatic circulation
- Intestinal juice
References
- ISSN 0272-5533.
- ISBN 978-0-07-178003-2.
- ISBN 978-1-4160-4574-8.
- ^ "Bile pigments - Oxford Reference". www.oxfordreference.com. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
- ^ "Secretion of Bile and the Role of Bile Acids In Digestion". www.vivo.colostate.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
- ISBN 978-0-323-07933-4.
- ISBN 978-1-84755-769-8.
- PMID 12454260.
- ISBN 978-0-495-11981-4.
- ^ "Secretion of Bile and the Role of Bile Acids In Digestion". www.vivo.colostate.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
- ^ "Secretion of Bile and the Role of Bile Acids In Digestion". www.vivo.colostate.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
- PMID 14056.
- PMID 19762477.
- PMID 16905115.
- PMID 31082099, retrieved 2020-01-20
- PMID 4933894.
- ISBN 9780444901309, retrieved 2020-01-20
- PMID 23964136.
- ^ Choices, NHS. "Nausea and vomiting in adults - NHS Choices". www.nhs.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
- ISBN 978-1-4557-1193-2.
- PMID 27326319.
- PMID 21785056.
- ISBN 9783110321364. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
If blood is poured into a glass jar, a process of coagulation and sedimentation starts. It ends with four clearly distinct layers: a red region, a yellowish one, a black one, and a white one (Figure 4, left) ... The lowest part of the same column consists of sediment that is too dense to permit light to pass through. Therefore, this part of the column looks black and might be referred to as the 'black bile'. On the top of the column there is a white layer, which we today classify as fibrin; it might correspond to Galen's 'phlegm'. The remaining part is a rather clear but somewhat yellowish fluid that surrounds the coagulated column in the middle. It might be called 'yellow bile', but today we recognize it as blood serum.
- ISBN 978-0-19-873856-5.
- ^ Newton, W. (1837). "The invention of certain improvements in the manufacture of soap, which will be particularly applicable to the felting of woollen cloths". The London Journal of Arts and Sciences; and Repertory of Patent Inventions. IX: 289. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
- ^ Martin, Geoffrey (1951). The Modern Soap and Detergent Industry: The manufacture of special soaps and detergent compositions. Technical Press. p. 15.
- ^ "Pinapaitan - Ang Sarap". Ang Sarap (A Tagalog word for "It's Delicious"). 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
- ISBN 4096221139.
- ^ Hance, J. (2015). "Is the end of 'house of horror' bear bile factories in sight?". The Guardian.
Further reading
- Bowen, R. (2001-11-23). "Secretion of Bile and the Role of Bile Acids In Digestion". Colorado State Hypertextbook article on Bile. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
- Krejčí, Z; Hanuš L.; Podstatová H.; Reifová E (1983). "A contribution to the problems of the pathogenesis and microbial etiology of cholelithiasis". Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis Facultatis Medicae. 104: 279–286. PMID 6222611.
- Maton, Anthea; Jean Hopkins; Charles William McLaughlin; Susan Johnson; Maryanna Quon Warner; David LaHart; Jill D. Wright (1993). Human Biology and Health. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-981176-1.
- Seleem HM, Nada AS, Naguib MA, Abdelmaksoud OR, El-Gazzarah AR (2021). Serum immunoglobulin G4 in patients with nonmalignant common bile duct stricture. Menoufia Med J; 34:1275-83.