Mucus production of choledochal epithelial cells due to bile stagnation in the rat.

Mucus secretion is increased by various causative agents of inflammation in the mucosa. Although mucus production of the choledochal epithelial cells (except goblet cells) has never been noted in the rat in normal physiological conditions, it is seen as an inflammatory reaction in animals with choledochoenterostomy, which brings bacteria and active digestive enzymes into the common bile duct through regurgitation of intestinal contents. It is known that stagnant bile alone can cause inflammation in the mucosa of the gallbladder in patients with aseptic acalculous cholecystitis. In this study, aseptic bile stagnation was caused by choledochal dilation made by detaching the common bile duct from the hepatoduodenal ligament in five rats, and histological changes of the choledochal epithelium were observed by light and transmission electron microscopy 17 months after the operative procedure to determine whether stagnant bile could cause mucus production in choledochal epithelial cells. Mucus production was noted in two rats by light microscopy and in all the rats by transmission electron microscopy, and so it was demonstrated that stagnant bile could give rise to this phenomenon in the rat choledochal epithelium.