Bile salts and bioelectric properties of rat jejunum.

Addition of conjugated bile salts increased transmural- and transserosal-potential differences of sheets of rat jejunum. Removal of Cl- from buffer solutions minimized the bile-sale induced bioelectric changes. Bile-salt induced doubling of tissue resistance was not explained by an observed increase in net Cl- serosa leads to mucosa flux. Electrical effects were unrelated to concentration and were observed only when bile-salt solutions perfused the jejunal mucosa. The molecular events associated with bile-salt interactions with the plasma membrane affecting ion fluxes may relate to their unique effects on sterol absorption.