Bile Salt-Cholesterol Micelles

One must ask the question—why don t the rest of the bile salts form large micelles with one cholesterol molecule per micelle Unless this is a thermodynamically unstable situation the existence of two markedly different kinds of bile salt micelles in the same solution at cholesterol saturation seems unlikely since one must postulate that some bile salt micelles have a specific affinity for cholesterol while other chemically identical molecules do not. These observations may also apply to other compounds solubilized only slightly by bile salts [e.g., large fat-soluble dyes, methyl cholanthracine, griseofulvin, and glutethemide (12, 44b, 143, 147-148, 176)]. 

---

Bile salts, cholesterol, phospholipids, and other minor components are secreted by the hver. Bile salts serve three significant physiological functions. The hydrophilic carboxylate group, which is attached via an alkyl chain to the hydrophobic steroid skeleton, allows the bile salts to form water-soluble micelles with cholesterol and phospholipids in the bile. These micelles assist in the solvation of cholesterol. By solvating cholesterol, bile salts contribute to the homeostatic regulation of the amount of cholesterol in the whole body. Bile salts are also necessary for the intestinal absorption of dietary fats and fat-soluble vitamins (24—26). 

Bile salt molecules secreted by the gallbladder are essential for the emulsification and absorption of fats. They are the salt forms of bile acids, which are the major product of cholesterol catabolism in the liver. Bile salts form micelles as their hydrophobic face contacts the fat (triacylglycerol), and their polar face maintains contact with the aqueous enviromnent. This micelle formation allows water-soluble digestive enzymes to digest the entrapped triacylglycerol molecnle, releasing fatty acids that are readily absorbed by the digestive system. 

Bile salts are the determinant component in bile secretion, and they regulate the secretion of cholesterol, bilirubin, and phospholipids. In the hepatic cell and in the bile, at the proper bile salt concentration, micelles are formed from bile salts, phospholipids, cholesterol, and bilirubin. It is believed that in cholestasis there is interference with micelle secretion, possibly as a result of disturbances in the bile salt concentration. This is followed by alterations of canalicular microvilli, enlargement of the Golgi, and proliferation of the endoplasmic reticulum. 

The electrophoretic mobilities of C-labeled cholic, deoxycholic, and chenodeoxycholic acid and their corresponding taurine and glycine conjugates were determined by Norman (42). The paper electrophoresis was performed in barbiturate buffer of ionic strength 0.1, pH 8.6, in an electric field of 7.5 V/cm for 3 hr. When 1 pg of each acid, as the sodium salt dissolved in 25 pi of water, was applied to the paper strips, the isotope determination after electrophoresis showed broad peaks all with a mean mobility similar to that of albumin or slightly lower. The electrophoretic mobilities of all of the bile acids were influenced by the concentration in the solution applied and presented difficulties in identifying bile acids in natural extracts. The migration of bile salt-lecithin micelles on paper electrophoresis has been reported by Shimura (43). The micelles were prepared by addition of lecithin to mixed bile salts, which may have also contained cholesterol. 

Ekwall and Baltcheffsky [265] have discussed the formation of cholesterol mesomorphous phases in the presence of protein-surfactant complexes. In some cases when cholesterol is added to these solutions a mesomorphous phase forms, e.g. in serum albumin-sodium dodecyl sulphate systems, but this does not occur in serum albumin-sodium taurocholate solutions [266]. Cholesterol solubility in bile salt solutions is increased by the addition of lecithin [236]. The bile salt micelle is said to be swollen by the lecithin until the micellar structure breaks down and lamellar aggregates form in solution the solution is anisotropic. Bile salt-cholesterol-lecithin systems have been studied in detail by Small and coworkers [267-269]. The system sodium cholate-lecithin-water studied by these workers gives three paracrystalline phases I, II, and III shown in Fig. 4.37. Phase I is equivalent to a neat-soap phase, phase II is isotropic and is probably made up of dodecahedrally shaped lecithin micelles and bile salts. Phase III is of middle soap form. The isotropic micellar solution is represented by phase IV. The addition of cholesterol in increasing quantities reduces the extent of the isotropic... 

Irrespective of the physical form of the carotenoid in the plant tissue it needs to be dissolved directly into the bulk lipid phase (emulsion) and then into the mixed micelles formed from the emulsion droplets by the action of lipases and bile. Alternatively it can dissolve directly into the mixed micelles. The micelles then diffuse through the unstirred water layer covering the brush border of the enterocytes and dissociate, and the components are then absorbed. Although lipid absorption at this point is essentially complete, bile salts and sterols (cholesterol) may not be fully absorbed and are not wholly recovered more distally, some being lost into the large intestine. It is not known whether carotenoids incorporated into mixed micelles are fully or only partially absorbed. 

Penetration enhancers are low molecular weight compounds that can increase the absorption of poorly absorbed hydrophilic drugs such as peptides and proteins from the nasal, buccal, oral, rectal, and vaginal routes of administration [186], Chelators, bile salts, surfactants, and fatty acids are some examples of penetration enhancers that have been widely tested [186], The precise mechanisms by which these enhancers increase drug penetration are largely unknown. Bile salts, for instance, have been shown to increase the transport of lipophilic cholesterol [187] as well as the pore size of the epithelium [188], indicating enhancement in both transcellular and paracellular transport. Bile salts are known to break down mucus [189], form micelles [190], extract membrane proteins [191], and chelate ions [192], While breakdown of mucus, formation of micelles, and lipid extraction may have contributed predominantly to the bile salt-induced enhancement of transcellular transport, chelation of ions possibly accounts for their effect on the paracellular pathway. In addition to their lack of specificity in enhancing mem-... 

All of the above examples are acetates of active alcohols. Here, we also mention the acetate of a phenol, namely the provitamin a-tocopheryl acetate, whose natural enantiomer of absolute configuration (2R,47 ,87 ) is shown as 8.73. a-Tocopheryl acetate is a substrate of cholesterol esterase (EC 3.1.1.13), and was hydrolyzed in rats faster than its (2S,47 ,87 )-epimer. In vitro experiments required a-tocopheryl acetate to be dispersed as a micellar pseudosolution, and the nature of the bile salt used to prepare micelles had a profound effect on the substrate stereoselectivity of the reaction [95] [96], Only when the micelle composition approximated that of the gastrointestinal tract did the in vitro substrate stereoselectivity resemble that seen in vivo. 

Figure 2.2 Secretion of bile acids and biliary components. Bile acids (BA) cross the hepatocyte bound to 3a-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and are exported into the canaliculus by the bile-salt export protein (BSEP). Phosphatidylcholine (PC) from the inner leaflet of the apical membrane is flipped to the outer layer and interacts with bile acids secreted by BSEP. BA, PC, together with cholesterol from the membrane form mixed micelles that are not toxic to epithelial membranes of the biliary tree. Aquaporins (AQP) secrete water into bile.

Because of their similarity to the composition of human bile, which consists mainly of bile salts, phospholipids, and cholesterol, of interest for pharmaceutical studies are mainly binary bile salt micelles (BS/PL) (32,33). The function of the bile is to emulsify lipids in food and to dissolve the fission products of lipids as well as fat-soluble vitamins. The spontaneous formation of micelles is a necessary prerequisite to a contact of the lipophilic fission products with the intestinal wall. For affinity measurements, micellar sys-... 

The products of lipid digestion—free fatty acids, 2-monoacylglycerol, and cholesterol—plus bile salts, form mixed micelles that are able to cross the unstirred water layer on the surface of the brush border membrane. Individual lipids enter the intestinal mucosal cell cytosol. 

Vahouny, G.V., Tombes, R., Cassidy, M.M., Kritchevsky, D., and Gallo, L.L. 1980. Dietary fibers. V. Binding of bile salts, phospholipids and cholesterol from mixed micelles by bile acid sequestrants and dietary fibers. Lipids 15, 1012-1018. 

PBS and gently blotted to remove blood and tissue fluids, then suspended over the lip of a small (250 pi) microcentrifuge tube and punctured with a needle to allow the bile to drain into the tube. Store frozen until assay. There is usually enough material to measure lipid composition (bile acids, cholesterol, phospholipids) with standard colorimetric kits (<1 pi needed for each assay). In addition to biliary cholesterol levels, it is important to take note of bile salt concentrations, since these are the detergents which suspend dietary lipids in micelles and deliver them to the intestinal epithelium for absorption by enterocytes. Differences in bile salt concentration alone could lead to differences in cholesterol absorption. 

---