2016 Volume 19 Issue 2 Pages 67-73
The diagnosis of gallbladder mucocele（GM）in dogs has became incresingly frequent. However, the pathogenesis of GM remains unclear. Hydrophobic bile acids are suspected to play a role in the development of GM because of their cytotoxic effects. Several reports have indicated that determination of serum bile acid compositional ratio can aid in estimating the compositional ratio of gallbladder bile acid. In this study, we examined the associations of serum bile acid composition with GM and biliary sludge（BS）. The percentage composition of 16 serum bile acids were calculated in 20 dogs with GM, 32 with BS, and 7 control dogs. Fifteen and 12 dogs had been treated with ursodeoxycholic acid（UDCA）in the GM and BS groups,respectively. We found that the percentage of serum taurodeoxycholic acid（TDCA）, which is a hydrophobic bile acid, was significantly lower in the GM group（P＝0.0356）compared to the control group, irrespective of UDCA administration. Although the percentage of serum tauroursodeoxycholic acid（TUDCA）, which is hydrophilic, was significantly higher in the GM（P＝0.0026）and BS（P＝0.0084）groups compared to the control group, this change seemed to be attributable to UDCA treatment. No difference was observed in the percentage of other serum bile acid fractions between the control and GM or BS groups. These results suggest that the decrease, rather than increase, in serum levels of TDCA, a hydrophobic bile acid, may play a role in the pathogenesis of GM in dogs. Further studies on gallbladder bile with a larger sample size are needed to clarify the pathological roles of bile acid in GM in dogs.
