Pigment Gallstones

The differentiation of cholesterol and pigment gallstones.

Pathogenesis of cholesterol and pigment gallstones: an update.

Phase separation of cholesterol crystals from supersaturated bile is still considered the key event in cholesterol gallstone formation. In this review, we will first provide a basal framework of the interactions between the sterol, bile salts and phospholipids in aqueous solutions and then summarize new developments. The hepatocytic apical membrane harbours specific transport proteins for these...

Equilibrium swelling of pigment gallstones: evidence for network polymer structure.

A major component of pigment gallstones (PS) is a black, insoluble substance. I t has been suggested that this pigment material might be a highly crosslinked polymer, and if such were the case, i t should imbibe solvent (swell) to the maximum permitted by the crosslinks of its macromolecular network. We measured the equilibrium amount, qeq, by which pulverized, desiccated PS swells in different...

New pathophysiological concepts underlying pathogenesis of pigment gallstones.

Pigment gallstones, which are much less frequent than cholesterol stones, are classified descriptively as "black" or "brown". They are composed mostly of calcium hydrogen bilirubinate, Ca(HUCB)(2), which is polymerized and oxidized in "black" stones but remains unpolymerized in "brown" stones. Black stones form in sterile gallbladder bile but brown stones form secondary to stasis and anaerobic ...

Pathogenesis of cholesterol and pigment gallstones: An update

Phase separation of cholesterol crystals from supersaturated bile is still considered the key event in cholesterol gallstone formation. In this review, we will first provide a basal framework of the interactions between the sterol, bile salts and phospholipids in aqueous solutions and then summarize new developments. The hepatocytic apical membrane harbours specific transport proteins for these...