Previous studies showed that in rats with obstruction of the bile ducts draining the median and left hepatic lobes, and in rats with normal bile ducts in which the bile acid pool size and secretion were augmented by 48-h intraduodenal infusion of taurocholate, bile acid flux through secreting hepatocytes was increased. Under these conditions, taurocholate transport maximum exhibited a time-dependent adaptation to increased secretory load.
