An experimental model of cirrhosis was developed in the rat to assess the effect of disease and pharmacological manipulation on blood flow, shunting and portal pressure. With progression in the severity of histological cirrhosis there was a steady fall in effective liver blood flow as measured with radioisotope labelled colloid. This corresponded to a rise in portal pressure and shunting with a...

BACKGROUND Massive liver necrosis, characteristic of acute liver failure, may affect hepatosplanchnic haemodynamics, and contribute to the alterations in renal haemodynamics and function. AIMS To investigate the relation between hepatosplanchnic haemodynamics, including portal systemic shunting, and renal blood flow and function in rats with acute liver failure. METHODS Liver failure was in...

BACKGROUND It is a well-accepted fact that angiotensin II (Ang II) contributes to increased vascular tone in cirrhotic livers. However, aliskiren attenuates the effect of Ang II through direct renin inhibition. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of aliskiren on portal pressure and intrahepatic resistance in bile duct ligated (BDL) rats. METHODS The effects of acute intravenous infusion (...

BACKGROUND Portal hypertension is associated with gross haemodynamic disturbances characterised by high cardiac output, low peripheral vascular resistance, increased splanchnic blood flow, and portal systemic shunting. AIMS To study the relationship between intrahepatic portal systemic shunts and microsphere induced portal hypertension in the rat liver. METHODS Different sized microspheres ...

This study was designed to investigate the mechanism for ethanol-induced hepatic vasoconstriction in isolated perfused rat liver. Upon initiation of ethanol infusion into the portal vein at concentrations ranging from 25 to 100 mM, portal pressure began to increase in a concentration-dependent manner and reached maximal levels in 2-5 min (initial phase), followed by a gradual decrease over the ...

Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoactive peptide, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of liver disease and portal hypertension. Two major endothelin receptors (ET-A and ET-B) mediate biological effects, largely on the basis of their known downstream signaling pathways. We hypothesized that the different receptors are likely to mediate divergent effects in portal hypertensive mice. Liver...

After parenchymal loss, the liver regenerates restoring normal mass and metabolic function. Prevailing theories on triggering events leading to regeneration include humoral, metabolic, and flow-mediated mechanisms, the latter emphasizing the importance of shear stress mediated nitric oxide regulation. We aimed to investigate whether the grade of resection and hence the portal venous pressure an...

Cirrhosis of the liver is by far the most common cause of portal hypertension in the western world. Portal hypertension is a frequent clinical syndrome, defined by a pathological increase in the portal venous pressure. When the portal pressure gradient (the difference between pressures in the portal and the inferior vena cava veins: normal value below 6 mmHg) increases above 10-12 mmHg, complic...