POSTPRANDIAL RESPONSES OF LIVER BLOOD-FLOW PRIOR TO AND FOLLOWING HEPATECTOMY IN CONSCIOUS DOGS

The responses of the portal and hepatic arterial blood flows to variou s diets and nutrients were measured simultaneously in conscious dogs p rior to and following hepatic resection, Prior to hepatectomy, the inc rease in the portal blood flow was significantly larger in response to an elemental diet, fats, or amino acids than to glucose or water. The peak increase was 60.2 +/- 14.4 mi for water, 144.7 +/- 22.1 mi for a 150-cal elemental diet, 168.5 +/- 16.1 mi for a 300-cal elemental die t, 86.7 +/- 14.0 mi for a glucose solution, 159.3 +/- 16.7 mi for an a mino acid meal, and 188.5 +/- 25.3 mi for a fat meal, Following partia l hepatectomy, fats and amino acids induced an increase in the portal blood flow similar to that prior to hepatectomy, Glucose and the eleme ntal diet, on the other hand, induced a significantly larger increase in portal blood flow following the surgery although water did not, The peak increase was 144.4 +/- 27.8 mi for glucose (166% of the peak inc rease prior to hepatectomy) and 221.8 +/- 32.5 mi for the 300-cal elem ental diet (132%), The postprandial response of the hepatic artery to every diet was quite different among the dogs and there were no signif icant changes both prior to and following surgery. The different respo nse of the portal flow to intraluminal glucose following partial hepat ectomy may be due to alterations in glucose metabolism following hepat ectomy. We have shown that the postprandial response of the portal blo od flow varies with the type of nutrient, and it can be altered by hep atectomy. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.