AJP - Renal Physiology, Vol 252, Issue 6 981-F985, Copyright © 1987 by American Physiological Society
Role of the liver in renal hemodynamic response to amino acid infusion
L. L. Woods, H. L. Mizelle and J. E. Hall
The purpose of this study is to determine the quantitative importance of
the liver in mediating the increases in renal blood flow and glomerular
filtration rate (GFR) that occur after elevation of plasma amino acids. A
mixture of four amine acids (Gly, Ser, Ala, Pro at 0.075 mmol X kg-1 X
min-1 total) was infused intravenously into normal anesthetized dogs and
into a second group of dogs after ligating all blood vessels supplying the
liver and inserting a hepatic portal-femoral venous shunt. In normal dogs,
renal blood flow and GFR rose by an average of 20 +/- 3 and 15 +/- 4%,
respectively, after 30 min of amino acid infusion, while renal vascular
resistance fell 16% from 0.51 +/- 0.16 to 0.43 +/- 0.16 mmHg X ml-1 X min.
The responses of dogs in which the hepatic circulation was ligated were not
significantly different from those in normal animals; renal blood flow and
GFR increased by 20 +/- 3 and 31 +/- 7%, respectively, and renal vascular
resistance fell 26% from 0.80 +/- 0.13 to 0.59 +/- 0.08 mmHg X ml-1 X min
after 30 min of amino acid infusion. Because ligation of the blood supply
to the liver did not prevent the renal hemodynamic response to amino acid
infusion, it appears that the liver does not play a major role in mediating
renal vasodilation during elevation of plasma amino acids.
