Biliary control of β-glucuronidase activity in the luminal contents of the rat ileum, cecum, and rectum

Abstract

The effect of bile exclusion on intestinal β-glucuronidase activity was studied in the rat. Bile exclusion dramatically decreased the bacterial β-glucuronidase activity in the cecum and rectum but did not affect the normal low level in the ileum. Thus, bile flow may be the most important factor in modulating β-glucuronidase activity in the rat large bowel. Dietary substances which can alter bile flow may thus have effects on intestinal bacterial β-glucuronidase activity. Effects of diet on colon cancer might therefore be explicable in terms of altered bile flow rather than altered bacterial β-glucuronidase induction.