1974 Volume 113 Issue 4 Pages 371-381
Sediments from the bile of mice fed a lithogenic diet, and of patients with cholesterol stones were observed under a scanning electron microscope. In the murine bile, single cholesterol crystals appeared at 1 week after the start of lithogenic diet. At 2 weeks, clusters of a few cholesterol crystals were seen. They gradually grew into clusters of many cholesterol crystals in 6 weeks, and finally into cholesterol stones at 20 weeks. In the sediment of the bile from cholesterol stone patients, single cholesterol crystals and clusters of various sizes were observed. From these results, the process of cholesterol stone formation in the bile of man and mouse was presumed as follows: Single cholesterol crystals appear as the first step, then clusters of crystals are formed by the process of new crystal growth on the surface of older crystals or by the coagulation of crystals by cohesive force, and finally cholesterol stones are formed through a repetition of these processes.
