The Functional Integration of Gallbladder and Sphincter of Oddi Motor Activity in Humans

Gallbladder and sphincter of Oddi motility regulates the flow of bile from the liver into the duodenum. Both structures exhibit interdigestive motor activity that coincides with the phases of the small intestine interdigestive cycle. Importantly, however, the sphincter of Oddi does not exhibit a quiescent phase. After a meal, the gallbladder contracts slowly and steadily and the resistance to flow across the sphincter of Oddi falls because of a reduction in the phasic contraction amplitude and a fall in basal pressure, thus resulting in flow of bile into the duodenum.