Features of the choleretic action of caerulein

I.v. infusion of caerulein had a thorough choleretic effect in the chicken, stimulating secretion of bicarbonate and bile salts, both in the absence of enterohepatic circulation of bile salts, and in animals in which bile secretion was supported with i.v. or intraduodenal administration of exogenous bile salts. In the case of the intraduodenal route, both the concentration and output of bile salts were increased. A dose-response relation was evident, although more modest in the case of the bile salts output than in the bicarbonate output. A significant positive correlation between bile salts output and bile flow during caerulein stimulation was evident. The mechanism of the choleretic action of caerulein in the presence or absence of an enterohepatic circulation of bile salts is discussed.