Mutagenicity of bile and pancreatic juice from patients with pancreatico-biliary maljunction

Abstract

We attempted to detect mutagenic activity in bile and pancreatic juice from patients with biliary tract disease using the spore rec assay and wild (H17) and mutant (M45) strains. Three bile samples out of 5 obtained from patients with pancreatico-biliary maljunction showed positive reaction in the spore rec assay, and all contained a high level of amylase activity, while 300 microliters of bile samples obtained from 10 control patients without pancreatico-biliary maljunction did not show any positive reaction. Moreover, 300 microliters of the in vitro mixture of bile with an equal volume of pancreatic juice also showed a positive reaction after treatment for 12 days at 37 degrees C or for 10 min at 100 degrees C, suggesting that they were very stable and long-acting in vivo. These data suggest that possible mutagens might be formed by the mixing of bile with pancreatic juice regurgitated into the biliary tract, and that there might be a relationship to biliary tract cancer which often accompanies pancreatico-biliary maljunction.