Influence of nitric oxide and endothelin on levels of liver function and portal hyperdynamics in patients with liver cirrhosis

Objective: To investigate the influence of nitric oxide(NO) and endothelin(ET)levels on liver function and portal hyperdynamics in patients with liver cirrhosis.Methods: The plasma levels of NO and ET of 51 cirrhotic patientswho were divided into group A(n=19),B(n=21) and C(n=11) according to the liver function and 31 normal controls were measured by Griess and radioimmunoassay,respectively.Color Doppler ultrasonography was used to measure the portal hypernamics(including portal venous and splenic venous blood flow) and automatic biochemistry analyzer was used to measure the liver function.Results: The NO and ET level in the plasma of the cirrhotic patients(including Child-Pugh A,B and C)was significantly higher than that of the controls(P<0.01).The NO and ET level in the plasma of the cirrhotic patients increased with the degeneration of the liver function and the difference was obvious between different grades(P<0.01).The ratio of NO/ET in the plasma of the cirrhotic patients(including Child-Pugh A,B and C)was significantly higher than that of the controls(P<0.05).The difference of NO/ET levels was significant between group A and group C(P<0.01),but the difference was not obvious between group B and group C(P>0.05).The plasma level of portal venous and splenic venous blood flow(PVBF and SVBF) was significantly higher in the cirrhotic patients than that in the controls(P<0.01).The increase was more obvious in group C.The difference was significant between group C and group A(P<0.01)but there was no difference between group C and group A.The plasma of NO and ET had a positive correlation with portal venous and splenic venous blood flow(PVBF and SVBF) in the cirrhotic patients,and it had a positive correlation with PVBF and SVBF in the controls.The plasma levels of NO and ET were significantly higher in ascites patients than those in the controls(P<0.01)and the no ascites patients (P<0.05).Conclusions: The serum levels of NO and ET are of great value in the evaluation of the liver function and the plasma levels of NO and ET may play an important role in the pathogenesis and promotion of portal hyperdynamics in patients with cirrhosis.