The age-dependent decline in the biliary transport maximum of conjugated sulfobromophthalein in the rat

Abstract

In order to elucidate the effect of aging on the biliary transport of organic anions, we examined the biliary transport maximum (Tm) for sulfobromophthalein (BSP) conjugated with glutathione in male and female Fischer-344 rats of various ages (3, 6, 24 and 30 months) during the constant intravenous infusion of conjugated BSP. For young rats the Tm values for conjugated BSP were higher in females than in males in contrast to the reported higher Tm value in males infused with free (unconjugated) BSP. In both sexes, Tm values progressively decreased with age up to 30 months. The results suggest that the previously reported higher Tm value for young male rats compared to young females during free BSP infusion is due to the lower conjugation capacity in females, and that the biliary transport process per se is more efficient in females at least for organic anions like conjugated BSP. Furthermore, the results support the previously proposed hypothesis that the biliary transport meachanism per se is steadily affected by aging in rats of both sexes.