Cholestatic liver disease modulates susceptibility to ischemia/reperfusion-induced arrhythmia, but not necrosis and hemodynamic instability: The role of endogenous opioid peptides

Acute cholestasis is associated with cardiovascular complications, which mainly manifest during stressful conditions. The goal of this study is to evaluate susceptibility of 7-day bile duct-ligated rats to ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury. Sham-operated and cholestatic rats, treated with daily normal saline, L-NAME (a non-selective NO synthase inhibitor) naltrexone, or both L-NAME and naltrexone were subjected to 30 min of ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. Cholestatic rats demonstrated significant bradycardia, hypotension ( P