Choleretic effects of taurine on experimentally-induced intrahepatic cholestasis]

When a lymphokine, the cholestatic factor, is intravenously injected into rats through a mesenteric vein, remarkable reductions in bile flow and bile acid excretion are observed. However when taurine was injected with the cholestatic factor, the reduction in bile flow and bile acid excretion were significantly suppressed. Moreover, injection of taurine with cholestatic factor resulted in the decreases of both bile acid-dependent bile flow and vesicular transport but not bile acid-independent bile flow. Not significant choleretic effects were noted when taurine alone was administered to normal rats.