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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 297/2/G306    most recent 90703.2008v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Sun, X. Articles by Robson, S. C. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sun, X. Articles by Robson, S. C.

LIVER AND BILIARY TRACT

Vascular stasis, intestinal hemorrhage, and heightened vascular permeability complicate acute portal hypertension in cd39-null mice

¹Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; ²Gastroenterology Unit, Institut Clinic de Malalties Digestives i Metaboliques, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Submitted 17 December 2008 ; accepted in final form 11 June 2009

Vasoactive factors that regulate splanchnic hemodynamics include nitric oxide, catecholamines, and possibly extracellular nucleosides/nucleotides (adenosine, ATP). CD39/ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (NTPDase1) is the major vascular ectonucleotidase that hydrolyzes extracellular nucleotides. CD39 activity may be modulated by vascular injury, inflammation, and altered oxygen tension. Altered Cd39 expression by the murine hepatosplanchnic vasculature may impact hemodynamics and portal hypertension (PHT) in vivo. We noted that basal portal pressures (PPs) were comparable in wild-type and Cd39-null mice (n = 9). ATP infusions resulted in increments in PP in wild-type mice, but, in contrast, this significantly decreased in Cd39-null mice (n = 9) post-ATP in a nitric oxide-dependent manner. We then studied Cd39/NTPDase1 deletion in the regulation of portal hemodynamics, vascular integrity, and intestinal permeability in a murine model of PHT. Partial portal vein ligation (PPVL) was performed in Cd39-null (n = 44) and wild-type (n = 23) mice. Sequential measurements obtained after PPVL were indicative of comparable levels of PHT (ranges 14–29 mmHg) in both groups. There was one death in the wild-type group and eight in the Cd39-null group from intestinal bleeding (P = 0.024). Circulatory stasis in the absence of overt portal vein thrombosis, portal congestion, intestinal hemorrhage, and increased permeability were evident in all surviving Cd39-null mice. Deletion of Cd39 results in deleterious outcomes post-PPVL that are associated with significant microcirculatory derangements and major intestinal congestion with hemorrhage mimicking acute mesenteric occlusion. Absent Cd39/NTPDase1 and decreased generation of adenosine in the splanchnic circulation cause heightened vascular permeability and gastrointestinal hemorrhage in PPVL.

portal vein stenosis; splanchnic hemodynamics; gastrointestinal bleeding; nitric oxide; ATP; ectonucleotidase