AJP - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, Vol 239, Issue 2 83-G89, Copyright © 1980 by American Physiological Society
Effects of portacaval shunt and transposition on fatty acid and cholesterol biosynthesis in rat liver
J. C. Pector, J. Winand, J. P. Dehaye and J. Christophe
Male rats underwent either portacaval shunt or portacaval transposition; in
both cases, sham-operated pair-fed rats served as controls. Three weeks
after a portacaval shunt, fasting serum values of glucose (-35%) and
cholesterol (-24%) were lower, and fasting plasma glucagon was higher
(+65%). The wet weight of the liver and its total content in DNA, RNA, and
protein decreased by 43, 40, 43, and 48%, respectively. The supernatant of
liver obtained after centrifugation at 700 g incorporated less
[1-14C]acetate (-56%) into fatty acids and less [1-14C]acetate (-94%) and
[2-14C]mevalonate (-37%) into cholesterol. The activity of acetyl CoA
carboxylase was reduced by 56%. The in vivo incorporation of [3H]H2O into
liver fatty acids was 83% lower and that into liver cholesterol was 39%
lower than in pair-fed controls. Several of the preceding parameters,
including in vitro and in vivo labeling of hepatic fatty acids and
cholesterol, were found to be mostly normal in rats with portacaval
transposition. These data suggest that the reduction of fatty acid and
cholesterol biosynthesis in the liver of rats with portacaval shunt was due
to the reduction of total hepatic blood flow rather than to the diversion
of portal blood constituents.
