Analysis of gallstone composition and structure in Jharkhand region

The aim of this study was to analyze gallstones structurally and chemically as this may help to direct the measures for its treatment.

On the basis of morphology, 459 gallstones were categorized into pigmented, cholesterol, and mixed gallstones and analyzed for their chemical structure and composition. Elementary analysis was done with the help of inductively coupled plasma, optical emission spectrophotometry. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used for compound analysis. The effects of thermal stability were analyzed by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Statistical analysis was done to correlate gallstone composition with their shape and number in gallbladder.

Pigmented gallstones were predominant and generally occurred in multiple forms, cholesterol as solitaire and black pigmented as slug (χ ² = 3.56; p < 0.001). Scanning electron microscopy showed the crystals of cholesterol in cholesterol gallstones while pigmented gallstones were more compact in structure. Both types of structure were seen in mixed stones while black pigmented stones were amorphous in nature. This difference in structures might be due to difference in chemical compositions. Cholesterol and mixed stones contained basically cholesterol, brown pigmented constituted bilirubin as a major component, and black stones differed from brown pigmented stones by the presence of Ca palmitate. Bilirubin and palmitate were thermally more stable than cholesterol; hence pigmented gallstones were thermally more stable than cholesterol gallstones, as seen in TGA study.

Pigmented gallstones were most common in this study of gallstones from the Jharkhand region.