Tj. Johnson et al., GLUCAGON, STRESS, AND PORTAL-HYPERTENSION - PLASMA-GLUCAGON LEVELS AND PORTAL-HYPERTENSION IN RELATION TO ANESTHESIA AND SURGICAL STRESS, Digestive diseases and sciences, 40(8), 1995, pp. 1816-1823
Glucagon has been proposed as the mediator of splanchnic hyperemia in
portal hypertension. Employing an assay specific for pancreatic glucag
on, we reevaluated the relationship between this peptide and portal hy
pertension in the portal vein (PV)-stenosed rat model addressing, in p
articular, the effects of anesthetic and surgical stress. Plasma gluca
gon levels were similar in sham-operated and portal hypertensive rats:
glucagon, sham vs PV stenosed: 110.7 +/- 17.1 pmol/liter vs 140.6 +/-
23.3 pmol/liter (NS). Furthermore, plasma levels of glucagon and the
related peptide VIP were not significantly influenced by anesthesia or
surgical stress, and levels remained similar under all conditions in
sham-operated and PV-stenosed animals. We conclude that pancreatic glu
cagon is not elevated in the PV-stenosed rat; differences between thes
e results and those describing hyperglucagonemia in this model cannot
be explained on the basis of a differential response to stress but may
reflect differences in glucagon assay system.