13. What does bile do in the gut?
Correct answer: Once in the gut, bile salts act as a detergent, breaking up and emulsifying fats to facilitate their absorption.
12. How is cholesterol carried in bile?
Correct answer: Cholesterol is not water soluble and is carried in the bile in water-soluble micelles, in which the hydrophobic cholesterol is carried within a ‘shell’ of phospholipid and bile salts.
11. What type of bilirubin is found in bile?
Correct answer: Conjugated bilirubin.
10. What are the principal bile salts in bile?
Correct answer: Chenodeoxycholic acid and cholic acid.
9. What is the principal phospholipid in bile?
Correct answer: Lecithin.
8. What is bile composed of?
Correct answer: Bile is composed of cholesterol, phospholipids (principally lecithin), bile salts (chenodeoxycholic acid and cholic acid) and water. Bile also contains conjugated bilirubin, the breakdown product of haemoglobin, which is quite distinct from bile salts. Cholesterol is not water…
5. In which races are gallstones particularly common?
Correct answer: They are particularly common in the Mediterranean races, and the highest incidence is found among the Indians of New Mexico.
4. In which sex are gallstones more common?
Correct answer: They are twice as common in women.
3. In which age group are gallstones typically found?
Correct answer: They are rare in children (although they should still be considered in the differential diagnosis of abdominal pain in children if the diagnosis is not to be overlooked, and should always be considered in children with spherocytosis or…
