Eleanor F. Cox1, Caroline L. Hoad1,
John J. Totman1, Carolyn Costigan1, Luca Marciani2,
Robin C. Spiller2, Penny A. Gowland1
1SPMMRC, School of Physics
& Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire,
United Kingdom; 2NDDC NIHR BRU, Nottingham University Hospitals,
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Different food ingredients can trigger gallbladder contraction but which food ingredients are most effective in contracting the gallbladder and at which dose level is not well understood. Here we used serial MRI to test the ability of several food ingredients to stimulate gallbladder contraction. High fat emulsion and semi-skimmed milk stimulated the highest gallbladder contraction (42% and 41% contraction respectively) of 10 test drinks, which also had the highest fat content. A fat-dose response of the gallbladder was subsequently shown using a milk-based drink, varying only the fat content, and correlated with changes in plasma cholecystokinin.