Lyme and biliary disease

Most readers have some familiarity with the liver and gallbladder.  The biliary (bile duct) system includes the gallbladder and a collection of ducts coming from the liver which join to enter the first part of the small intestines, the duodenum, the first part of the small intestines (bowel) just below the stomach. 


The liver is best known as our body’s detoxification organ (along with kidneys). The liver “metabolizes,” alters and excretes medicines and other substances. 


The liver makes bile, a yellow viscous fluid stored in the gallbladder, located directed under the liver. The gallbladder contracts with meals. Bile made of bile acids, from cholesterol, aid in the digestion of fat (an emulsifier) but has many other functions.  


The liver detoxifies medications and toxins through a system of enzymes with names like cytokine P450. Toxins and medications may end up in bile. 

Adsorption of medications may be dependent on something called the enterohepatic recirculation of bile.

Most bile is recycled from the gut which is considered 95% efficient. A particular bile acid molecule may be used 20 times before it is replaced. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The process of repeated cycling may enhance the function of therapeutic drugs and delay their excretion. For liver toxins this works the other way.  Proper functioning of the enterohepatic system depends in part on a healthy gut flora and specific bacterial enzymes.  Higher doses of antibiotics may be required because disruption of normal flora and necessary enzymes caused by the antibiotic(s). 

The use of bile acid sequestrants to remove unknown toxins like cholestyramine is not supported by scientific evidence. 

Some antibiotics promote the production of biliary cholesterol sludge and gall stones, primarily Rocephin, the popular intravenous drug used to treat Lyme disease.  Cholecystitis (gall bladder attacks) with or without the presence of gall stones is a common occurrence. 

Lyme anecdotally can attack the biliary system. Cases of positive Lyme PCR/DNA from gallbladder tissues are known to me but there are no published reports to date. 

Published reports have established Lyme liver disease in the form of granulomatous hepatitis. 
Tests like sonogram, HIDA/CCK scan and others may be used diagnostically for problems with gallbladder and bile ducts.  Negative test results do not rule out gallbladder/biliary disease. 

I am treating a patient with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Generally, the disorder is considered autoimmune, “idiopathic,” which of course means the patient is pathological and the doctor is an idiot. Some European literature (this patient is European) connects Lyme with this enigmatic illness. The patient has a clear history of Lyme. No such connection is made in the U.S. PBC is now a treatable disease. 

Bile via an array of ducts ultimately empties into the common bile duct. Bile the empties into the duodenum into a structure called the Ampulla of Vater. The flow of bile is regulated by a muscle called the sphincter of Oddi. 

After cholecystectomy, (surgical removal of the gallbladder), prior gallbladder pain may seem to recur. The bile ducts may become dilated. When a medical workup excludes a left-over stone stuck in bile duct, liver disease, pancreatic disease and other rare diseases, the diagnosis may be post-cholecystectomy syndrome or sphincter of Oddi dysfunction.

These syndromes are more common in Lyme patients, many of whom suffer with gallbladder disease and biliary tract disease and have had their gallbladders removed. 

The diagnosis is commonly missed or not taken seriously. The disorder can be disabling. Effective medical therapy, in my recent experience, is available but overlooked.