Abstract
The β-glucuronidase activity found in bile of patients with calcium bilirubi-nate stones is presumed to be significantly related to the pathogenesis of this type of gallstones. In this connection, this study presents evidence to show that β-glucuronidase in bile of those patients is predominantly of bacterial origin, mostly related to E. coli in bile, in contrast to the ease of cholesterol stones in which the β-glucuronidase activity of bile is usually that of tissue β-glucuronidase. These results were obtained by comparative studies, on an individual basis, of the β-glucuronidase activities of bile, E. coli isolated from bile, serum and liver tissue.
