pituitrin and Liver-Cirrhosis--Biliary

To evaluate the possible role of vagal impairment in the disturbances of urinary sodium and water excretion observed in cirrhosis.. Standard cardiovascular reflex tests were used to assess Autonomic function in 11 cirrhotic patients, and the response to an acute intravenous water load was determined. Changes in plasma noradrenaline, antidiuretic hormone, renin, and atrial natriuretic peptide also were evaluated.. Patients with vagal dysfunction were shown to have significantly impaired urinary sodium and water excretion, compared with those whose cardiovascular tests were normal (5-h urinary sodium excretion, 32.3 +/- 9.0 vs. 69.4 +/- 12.7 mmol, p < 0.05; % water load excreted at 5 h, 67.8 +/- 10.5 vs. 109.2 +/- 3.67%, p < 0.008). This was associated with higher circulating noradrenaline, renin, and antidiuretic hormone levels after the water load in the vagal dysfunction group. Urinary sodium excretion correlated with the heart rate variation on deep breathing (r = 0.74, p < 0.013) and the heart rate response to atropine (r = 0.75, p < 0.020); the % water load excreted correlated with the number of abnormal cardiovascular tests in each patient (rS = 0.67, p < 0.02). Although patients with vagal abnormalities had worse liver function, urinary sodium and water excretion correlated better with parasympathetic tests than with standard parameters of hepatic function.. The presence of vagal impairment in cirrhosis appears to be associated with impaired urinary sodium and water excretion, as well as disturbances in circulating vasoactive hormones. These findings could be due to an afferent defect resulting in diminished inhibitory input from intrathoracic volume and arterial baroreceptors, although a confounding effect of worse hepatic function in patients with vagal impairment cannot be excluded.

Topics: Atrial Natriuretic Factor; Diuresis; Epinephrine; Female; Heart Rate; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary; Male; Middle Aged; Renin; Sodium; Vagus Nerve; Vasopressins

1) Fluid retention and ascites are rarely seen in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). In an attempt to clarify this clinical observation, renal handling of sodium, water and divalent ions was studied during extracellular volume expansion (ECVE) and maximal suppression of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) secretion in 5 patients with PBC and 9 normal subjects. 2) Mean fractional excretion of sodium, water, phosphate and calculated fractional distal delivery of sodium were significantly greater in patients with PBC as compared with normal controls. Fractional CH20 for given fractional urine flow was similar in patients with PBC and normals. 3) The data suggest that patients with PBC have a greater diminution of proximal tubular reabsorption of sodium in response to ECVE than controls. This augmented elimination of salt during ECVE in patients with PBC may explain the rarity of ascites and edema in this type of cirrhosis.

Topics: Calcium; Extracellular Space; Humans; Kidney Tubules; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary; Magnesium; Natriuresis; Phosphates; Vasopressins; Water-Electrolyte Balance