Effects of the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor acetazolamide on splanchnic blood flow in anaesthetized rats

The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether inhibition of the enzy me carbonic anhydrase with acetazolamide interfered with pancreatic islet a nd whole splanchnic blood perfusion in rats. Carbonic anhydrase is present both in the endocrine cells and, in particular, the endothelium of the panc reatic islet. Thiobutabarbital-anaesthetized, male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in all experiments, and acetazolamide (50 mg/kg body weight) was give n to untreated control rats or rats pretreated with glucose, i.e. to normog lycaemic and hyperglycaemic animals. No acetazolamide-induced effects on bl ood glucose or serum insulin concentrations, mean arterial blood pressure, whole pancreatic or islet blood flow were seen in any of the animals. There were no effects on duodenal or colonic blood flow recorded in the control rats, whereas an increase in duodenal blood flow (P<0.02) was observed in t he hyperglycaemic animals. A tendency to an increase was seen in colonic bl ood flow in hyperglycaemic animals, although this was not statistically sig nificant (P=0.069). Inhibition of carbonic anhydrase seems to induce only m inor effects on pancreatic blood flow, while duodenal blood flow is slightl y enhanced in hyperglycaemic animals.