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TRANSLATIONAL PHYSIOLOGY

Kidney plays a major role in ammonia homeostasis after portasystemic shunting in patients with cirrhosis

¹Department of Surgery, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; ²Liver Unit, ³Department of Surgery and ⁴Radiology, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom; and ⁵Liver Failure Group, Institute of Hepatology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Submitted 11 April 2005 ; accepted in final form 22 January 2006

ABSTRACT

The kidney plays an important role in ammonia metabolism. In this study the hypothesis was tested that the kidney can acutely diminish ammonia release after portacaval shunting. Thirteen patients with cirrhosis (6 female/7 male, age 54.4 ± 3.3 yr) were studied. Blood was sampled prior to and 1 h after transjugular intrahepatic stent-shunt (TIPSS) insertion from the portal vein, a hepatic vein, the right renal vein, and the femoral vein, and renal and liver plasma flow were measured. Prior to TIPSS, renal ammonia release was significantly higher than ammonia release from the splanchnic region, which was not significantly different from zero. TIPSS insertion did not change arterial ammonia concentration or ammonia release from the splanchnic region but reduced renal ammonia release into the circulation (P < 0.05) to values that were not different from zero. TIPSS resulted in a tendency toward increased venous-arterial ammonia concentration differences across leg muscle. Post-TIPSS ammonia efflux via portasystemic shunts was estimated to be seven times higher than renal efflux. Kidneys have the ability to acutely diminish systemic ammonia release after portacaval shunting. Diminished renal ammonia release and enhanced muscle ammonia uptake are important mechanisms by which the cirrhotic patient maintains ammonia homeostasis after portasystemic shunting.

cirrhosis

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