Effect of albumin on taurocholate uptake kinetics in rat liver

1. Isolated rat livers were perfused in a single pass with increasing doses of taurocholate with and without albumin in the perfusion media. 2. The kinetics of taurocholate uptake were thus evaluated. 3. In all the experiments, taurocholate uptake showed Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Increasing the albumin concentration in the medium resulted in an increase in the Km, without effect on the Vmax. When taurocholate and albumin were kept constant (20:1 molar ratio), the Vmax was significantly lower than in the other experiments. 4. These data suggest that taurocholate uptake shows saturation in the absence of albumin and that albumin reduces taurocholate uptake.