Density bile acid micelles

Samples of gallbladder bile obtained in this way were analysed for bile acids, phospholipids and cholesterol (from which the cholesterol saturation indices were derived). Biliary bile-acid composition was then measured by HPLC. The vesicles were separated from micelles by sucrose density gradient ultra-centrifugation and the cholesterol microcrystal nucleation time measured as described above. 

The data clearly indicate that the surface pH of the bile salt micelle is higher than the surface pH of a lauryl taurate micelle for a given bulk pH—i.e., the difference between bulk and surface pH is less with the bile salt micelle. The bile salt micelle should have a lower charge density and therefore a lower concentration of protons at the surface of the micelle. Therefore, the observed bulk pH at which micellar fatty acid ionizes is closer to the bulk pKa of molecularly dispersed fatty acid (4.9) in bile salt solution than in lauryl taurate solution. 

Fig. I. Overall scheme for cholesterol balance across the intestinal epithelial cell. After digestion, lipids in the intestinal lumen combine with bile acids to form mixed micelles (MM) that promote uptake into the intestinal epithelial cell. Within the intestinal cell, triglyceride and cholesterol, along with specific apoproteins, are synthesized into the chylomicron (CM) which, ultimately, delivers much of the triglyceride to peripheral organs and most of the cholesterol to the liver. Also shown in this diagram are the 3 major sources for epithelial cell cholesterol including (1) uptake from the lumen, (2) synthesis from acetyl-CoA and (3) uptake of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) by both receptor-dependent and receptor-indqjendent mechanisms.

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