Mucin and phospholipids determine viscosity of gallbladder bile in patients with gallstones

Table 1 Cholesterol, phospholipids, bile acids, total lipids, CSI, protein, mucin, viscosity (mean ± SEM) and crystal observation time (median and range) in gallbladder bile of patients with gallstones and in hepatic bile

	Cholesterol stones (n = 28)	Mixed stones (n = 8)	Hepatic bile (n = 6)
Cholesterol ( mmol/L)	21.1 ± 2.2	12.8 ± 1.7	1.9 ± 1.1
Phospholipids ( mmol/L)	46.0 ± 4.7	26.6 ± 4.7	3.4 ± 1.3
Bile acids ( mmol/L)	141.2 ± 15.1	65.9 ± 7.7	13.7 ± 7.4
Total lipids (g/dL)	11.3 ± 1.1	5.7 ± 0.7	1.0 ± 0.5
CSI	1.43 ± 0.09	1.79 ± 0.34	2.61 ± 1.68
Total protein (g/L)	10.4 ± 1.8	6.2 ± 0.9	2.8 ± 1.6
Mucin (g/L)	0.85 ± 0.12	0.39 ± 0.12	0.08 ± 0.04
Viscosity (mPa·s)	5.00 ± 0.60	3.50 ± 0.68	0.92 ± 0.06
Crystal observation time (days)	2.0 (1-13)	2.5 (1-14)	>21 (>21)

Table 2 Correlation coefficients between viscosity and mucin, protein, lipids and CSI in gallbladder bile of 36 patients with cholesterol or mixed gallstones

Viscosity (mPa·s)	Correlation coefficient (r)	Significance level
Mucin (g/L)	0.645	P < 0.001
Total protein (g/L)	0.201	P = 0.24
Total lipids (g/dL)	0.238	P = 0.16
Cholesterol ( mmol/L)	0.223	P = 0.19
Phospholipids ( mmol/L)	0.344	P = 0.04
Bile acids ( mmol/L)	0.161	P = 0.34
CSI	-0.141	P = 0.41