Bacterium

BACTERIUM coli commune can be found in bile. When bacteria are directly introduced into the portal system, the liver may completely prevent them from entering the general circulation, expelling them through bile into the intestine; however, when the liver is damaged, bacteria in such cases begin to pass freely into the vena cava (Greke). Such hematogenous B. occurs in a number of infectious diseases (typhoid fever, paratyphoid, pneumonia, etc.). Microbes, especially typhoid bacilli, are often retained in the gallbladder for a long time, and by multiplying intensively, they cause prolonged (for years) bacillary carriage (see), which has significant epidemiological importance. When B. typhi is experimentally introduced into animals, bacteria can be retained in the bile for up to 3-4 months (Blackstein, Welch). The presence of bacteria in bile itself often does not cause any pathological phenomena. In the mechanism of the possible development of cholecystitis, cholangitis, and liver abscess, stasis of bile and disturbance of local circulation play a prominent role (Ehret, Koch). A frequent consequence of B. is the formation of gallstones (see), as microbes, multiplying in bile, alter the colloids of the latter and cause precipitates, which are then encrusted with salts. Bacteria (B. coli, B. typhi, streptococci, staphylococci) are often found inside gallstones. The presence of stones, creating bile stasis, promotes bacteriocholia and the penetration of new microbes from the intestine into the bile. Lit.: Greke, "Trudy laboratorii obshchei patologii Saratovskogo universiteta", vol. I, 1917; Laubenheimer K., Zeitschrift für Hygiene, vol. LVIII, 1907-08; Forter J., Münchener medizinische Wochenschrift, 1908, no. 1; Ehret H. und Stolz A., Mitteilungen aus den Grenzgebieten der Medizin und Chirurgie, vol. VI, VII, VIII, X; Koch J., Zeitschrift für Hygiene, usw., vol. LX.