Bile - wikipedia Bile This article is about the fluid produced by the liver. For other uses, see Bile ( disambiguation ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( October 2011 ) Bile ( yellow material ) in a liver biopsy in the setting of bile stasis, i.e. cholestasis. H&E stain Bile or gall is a dark green to yellowish brown fluid, produced by the liver of most vertebrates, that aids the digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In humans, bile is produced continuously by the liver ( liver bile ), and stored and concentrated in the gallbladder ( gallbladder bile ). After eating, this stored bile is discharged into the duodenum. The composition of gallbladder bile is 97 % water, 0.7 % bile salts, 0.2 % bilirubin, 0.51 % fats ( cholesterol, fatty acids and lecithin ), and 200 meq / l inorganic salts. Bile was the yellow bile in the four humor system of medicine, the standard of medical practice in Europe from 500 B.C. to the early nineteenth century. About 400 to 800 ml of bile is produced per day in adult humans. Contents 1 Function 2 Clinical significance 2.1 Biliary obstruction 3 Society and culture 3.1 Bile soap 3.2 Bile in food 3.3 Animal abuse 4 Principal bile acids 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading Function Action of bile salts in digestion Recycling of the bile Bile acts to some extent as a surfactant, helping to emulsify the lipids in food. Bile salt anions are hydrophilic on one side and hydrophobic on the other side ; consequently, they tend to aggregate around droplets of lipids ( triglycerides and phospholipids ) to form micelles, with the hydrophobic sides towards the fat and hydrophilic sides facing outwards. The hydrophilic sides are negatively charged, and this charge prevents fat droplets coated with bile from re-aggregating into larger fat particles. Ordinarily, the micelles in the duodenum have a diameter around 14 -- 33 μm. The dispersion of food fat into micelles provides a greatly increased surface area for the action of the enzyme pancreatic lipase, which actually digests the triglycerides, and is able to reach the fatty core through gaps between the bile salts. A triglyceride is broken down into three fatty acids and a monoglyceride, which are absorbed by the villi on the intestine walls. After being transferred across the intestinal membrane, the fatty acids reform into triglycerides ( re-esterified ), before being absorbed into the lymphatic system through lacteals. Without bile salts, most of the lipids in food would be excreted in faeces, undigested. Since bile increases the absorption of fats, it is an important part of the absorption of the fat - soluble substances, such as the vitamins A, D, E, and K. Besides its digestive function, bile serves also as the route of excretion for bilirubin, a byproduct of red blood cells recycled by the liver. Bilirubin derives from hemoglobin by glucuronidation. Bile tends to be alkali on average. The pH of common duct bile ( 7.50 to 8.05 ) is higher than that of the corresponding gallbladder bile ( 6.80 to 7.65 ). Bile in the gallbladder becomes more acidic in the longer a person goes without eating, though resting slows this fall in pH. As an alkali, it also has the function of neutralizing excess stomach acid before it enters the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine. Bile salts also act as bactericides, destroying many of the microbes that may be present in the food. Clinical significance In the absence of bile, fats become indigestible and are instead excreted in feces, a condition called steatorrhea. Feces lack their characteristic brown color and instead are white or gray, and greasy. Steatorrhea can lead to deficiencies in essential fatty acids and fat - soluble vitamins. In addition, past the small intestine ( which is normally responsible for absorbing fat from food ) the gastrointestinal tract and gut flora are not adapted to processing fats, leading to problems in the large intestine. The cholesterol contained in bile will occasionally accrete into lumps in the gallbladder, forming gallstones. Cholesterol gallstones are generally treated through surgical removal of the gallbladder. However, they can sometimes be dissolved by increasing the concentration of certain naturally occurring bile acids, such as chenodeoxycholic acid and ursodeoxycholic acid. On an empty stomach -- after repeated vomiting, for example -- a person 's vomit may be green or dark yellow, and very bitter. The bitter and greenish component may be bile or normal digestive juices originating in the stomach. The color of bile is often likened to `` fresh - cut grass '', unlike components in the stomach that look greenish yellow or dark yellow. Bile may be forced into the stomach secondary to a weakened valve ( pylorus ), the presence of certain drugs including alcohol, or powerful muscular contractions and duodenal spasms. Biliary obstruction Biliary obstruction can be caused by a variety of dietary factors. Most biliary obstructions are caused by the high consumption of sugar, fat and processed foods. These foods can cause gallstones. Primarily, biliary obstruction is caused by blockage in the bile ducts. Bile ducts carry bile from the liver and gallbladder through the pancreas. A huge amount of the bile is then released into the small intestine duodenum. The remaining bile is stored in the gallbladder. After food consumption the bile in the gallbladder is released to help with digestion and fat absorption. Society and culture In medical theories prevalent in the West from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, the body 's health depended on the equilibrium of four `` humors '', or vital fluids, two of which related to bile : blood, phlegm, `` yellow bile '' ( choler ), and `` black bile ''. These `` humors '' are believed to have its roots in the appearance of a blood sedimentation test made in open air, which exhibits a dark clot at the bottom ( `` black bile '' ), a layer of unclotted erythrocytes ( `` blood '' ), a layer of white blood cells ( `` phlegm '' ) and a layer of clear yellow serum ( `` yellow bile '' ). Excesses of black bile and yellow bile were thought to produce depression and aggression, respectively, and the Greek names for them gave rise to the English words cholera ( from Greek kholé ) and melancholia. Those same theories explain the derivation of the English word bilious from bile, the meaning of gall in English as `` exasperation '' or `` impudence '', and the Latin word cholera, derived from the Greek kholé, which was passed upon several Romance languages in words meaning `` anger '' such as colère ( French ) and cólera ( Spanish ). Bile soap Bile from dead mammals can be mixed with soap. This mixture, called bile soap, can be applied to textiles a few hours before washing and is a traditional and rather effective method for removing various kinds of tough stains. Bile in food `` Pinapaitan '' is a dish in Philippine cuisine that uses bile as flavoring. Animal abuse In regions like Asia where bile products are a popular ingredient in traditional medicine, there are several cases of abuse of bears from which bile is farmed. Principal bile acids Cholic acid Chenodeoxycholic acid Glycocholic acid Taurocholic acid Deoxycholic acid Lithocholic acid See also Medicine portal Animals portal Bile acid sequestrant Bile bear Enterohepatic circulation Intestinal juice Ox gall References ^ Jump up to : Barrett, Kim E. ( 2012 ). Ganong 's review of medical physiology. ( 24th ed. ). New York : McGraw - Hill Medical. p. 512. ISBN 978 - 0 - 07 - 178003 - 2. Jump up ^ Guyton and Hall ( 2011 ). Textbook of Medical Physiology. U.S. : Saunders Elsevier. p. 784. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4160 - 4574 - 8. Jump up ^ `` Secretion of Bile and the Role of Bile Acids In Digestion ''. www.vivo.colostate.edu. Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Secretion of Bile and the Role of Bile Acids In Digestion ''. www.vivo.colostate.edu. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 05. Jump up ^ Sutor, D. June ( 1976 ). `` Diurnal Variations in the pH of Pathological Gallbladder Bile '' ( PDF ). Gut ( 17 ) : 971 -- 974. doi : 10.1136 / gut. 17.12. 971. Jump up ^ Barabote RD, Tamang DG, Abeywardena SN, et al. ( 2006 ). `` Extra domains in secondary transport carriers and channel proteins ''. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1758 ( 10 ) : 1557 -- 79. PMID 16905115. doi : 10.1016 / j. bbamem. 2006.06. 018. Jump up ^ Choices, NHS. `` Nausea and vomiting in adults - NHS Choices ''. www.nhs.uk. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 05. Jump up ^ Choices, NHS. `` Gallstones - NHS Choices ''. www.nhs.uk. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 05. Jump up ^ Johansson, Ingvar ; Lynøe, Niels ( 2008 ). Medicine & Philosophy : A Twenty - First Century Introduction. Walter de Gruyter. p. 27. ISBN 9783110321364. Retrieved 23 April 2015. Jump up ^ Newton, W. ( 1837 ). `` The invention of certain improvements in the manufacture of soap, which will be particularly applicable to the felting of woollen cloths. ''. The London Journal of Arts and Sciences ; and Repertory of Patent Inventions. IX : 289. Retrieved 2007 - 02 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Pinapaitan - Ang Sarap ''. Ang Sarap ( A Tagalog word for `` It 's Delicious '' ). 2013 - 08 - 13. Retrieved 2016 - 06 - 05. Further reading Bowen, R. ( 2001 - 11 - 23 ). `` Secretion of Bile and the Role of Bile Acids In Digestion ''. Colorado State Hypertextbook article on Bile. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 2007 - 07 - 17. Krejčí, Z ; Hanuš L. ; Podstatová H. ; Reifová E ( 1983 ). `` A contribution to the problems of the pathogenesis and microbial etiology of cholelithiasis ''. Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis Facultatis Medicae. 104 : 279 -- 286. PMID 6222611. Maton, Anthea ; Jean Hopkins ; Charles William McLaughlin ; Susan Johnson ; Maryanna Quon Warner ; David LaHart ; Jill D. Wright ( 1993 ). Human Biology and Health. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA : Prentice Hall. ISBN 0 - 13 - 981176 - 1. Physiology of the gastrointestinal system GI tract Upper Exocrine Chief cells Pepsinogen Parietal cells Gastric acid Intrinsic factor Foveolar cells HCO Mucus Goblet cells Mucus Processes Swallowing Vomiting Fluids Saliva Gastric acid Lower Enteric nervous system Submucous plexus Myenteric plexus Endocrine / paracrine G cells gastrin D cells somatostatin ECL cells Histamine enterogastrone : I cells CCK K cells GIP S cells secretin Enteroendocrine cells Enterochromaffin cell APUD cell Fluids Intestinal juice Processes Segmentation contractions Migrating motor complex Borborygmus Defecation Either / both Processes Peristalsis ( Interstitial cell of Cajal Basal electrical rhythm ) Gastrocolic reflex Digestion Accessory Fluids Bile Pancreatic juice Processes Enterohepatic circulation Abdominopelvic Peritoneal fluid GND : 4393841 - 3 NDL : 00572708 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bile&oldid=802430273 '' Categories : Body fluids Digestive system Biomolecules Hepatology Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from October 2011 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from June 2016 Articles with unsourced statements from February 2012 Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from April 2015 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans ܐܪܡܝܐ Авар Azərbaycanca বাংলা Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Bosanski Català Чӑвашла Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa Kapampangan Қазақша Kreyòl ayisyen Kurdî Лакку Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Lumbaart Magyar മലയാളം Монгол Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Polski Português Română Runa Simi Русский Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் తెలుగు ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 26 September 2017, at 03 : 27. 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Question: where is bile produced and stored before added to food
Answer: bile is produced continuously by the liver (liver bile)