11.   There has been little investigation, however, as to how the metastability of hepatic bile changes in the gall bladder of patients with or without cholesterol gall stones.

12.   We hypothesised that the patients with cholesterol gall stones have less metastable hepatic bile which would become more lithogenic during the storage in the gall bladder.

13.   The total lipid concentration was greater in the hepatic bile of patients with cholesterol gall stones than that in the gall stone free patients.

14.   Whatever the mechanism is, the patients with cholesterol gall stones produce less metastable hepatic bile.

15.   The gall bladder is the last place to produce bile that is likely to nucleate in the patients with cholesterol gall stones.