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The role of adenosine in the hyperaemic response of the hepatic artery to portal vein occlusion (the ‘buffer response’)
Author(s) -
Mathie R.T.,
Alexander B.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
british journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.432
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1476-5381
pISSN - 0007-1188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1990.tb15857.x
Subject(s) - adenosine , vasodilation , medicine , artery , portal venous pressure , anesthesia , cardiology , portal hypertension , cirrhosis
1 Adenosine has been shown to be responsible for the hyperaemic response of the hepatic artery to portal vein occlusion (the hepatic arterial ‘buffer response’). 2 The effect of adenosine receptor blockade and of adenosine uptake inhibition on the hepatic arterial response to portal vein occlusion was investigated in three groups of anaesthetized dogs. 3 Venous return and arterial blood pressure were maintained during periods of portal occlusion by establishing a side‐to‐side portacaval shunt. Hepatic artery and portal vein blood flows were measured with electromagnetic flowmeters. 4 Hepatic arterial infusions of 8‐phenyltheophylline (500 μg kg −1 min −1 ) and 3‐isobutyl‐1‐methylxanthine (75 μg kg −1 min −1 ), doses sufficient to block the vasodilator response of the hepatic artery to exogenously applied adenosine, reduced the magnitude of the ‘buffer response’ by 50% and 75%, respectively. 5 Intravenous infusion of dipyridamole (100 μg kg −1 min −1 ), a dose sufficient to potentiate the vasodilator response of the hepatic artery to exogenously applied adenosine, had little effect on the ‘buffer response’. 6 It is concluded that adenosine is an important, but not the sole, agent responsible for the hepatic arterial ‘buffer response’.