Enhanced hepatic portal blood flow induced by prostaglandin E1 following liver transplantation in pigs

Portal venous blood flow (PVF), hepatic arterial blood flow (HAF), and systemic arterial pressure (SAP) were examined after prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) was injected into the vena cava superior (VCS) of liver-transplanted pigs. The injection of PGE1 at 0.2 micrograms/kg/min for 2 min on the day of transplantation and 3 days later produced an increase in PVF without causing any change in HAF or SAP, the response in PVF being dose-dependent. However, no reliable change in PVF, HAF, or SAP was seen when the same dose of PGE1 was administered 7 days after transplantation. Furthermore, no significant difference was noted among the values for PVF and total hepatic blood flow (THF) during the experimented days, although the HAF value had increased markedly 3 days after transplantation. These findings suggest that PGE1 is effective in increasing PVF in the liver transplanted condition; however, the hepatic circulatory improvement attributed to this agent would be limited to the first few days following transplantation.