- Erratum in:
- Hepatology. 2006 Sep;44(3):771.
- Comment in:
-
Hepatology. 2006 Jun;43(6):1187-90.
Brain edema and inflammatory activation in bile duct ligated rats with diet-induced hyperammonemia: A model of hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhosis.
Jover R,
Rodrigo R,
Felipo V,
Insausti R,
Sáez-Valero J,
García-Ayllón MS,
Suárez I,
Candela A,
Compañ A,
Esteban A,
Cauli O,
Ausó E,
Rodríguez E,
Gutiérrez A,
Girona E,
Erceg S,
Berbel P,
Pérez-Mateo M.
Gastroenterology Department, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Alicante, Spain. jover_rod@gva.es
Studies of the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy are hampered by the lack of a satisfactory animal model. We examined the neurological features of rats after bile duct ligation fed a hyperammonemic diet (BDL+HD). Six groups were studied: sham, sham pair-fed, hyperammonemic, bile duct ligation (BDL), BDL pair fed, and BDL+HD. The BDL+HD rats were made hyperammonemic via an ammonia-containing diet that began 2 weeks after operation. One week later, the animals were sacrificed. BDL+HD rats displayed an increased level of cerebral ammonia and neuroanatomical characteristics of hepatic encephalopathy (HE), including the presence of type II Alzheimer astrocytes. Both BDL and BDL+HD rats showed activation of the inflammatory system. BDL+HD rats showed an increased amount of brain glutamine, a decreased amount of brain myo-inositol, and a significant increase in the level of brain water. In coordination tests, BDL+HD rats showed severe impairment of motor activity and performance as opposed to BDL rats, whose results seemed only mildly affected. In conclusion, the BDL+HD rats displayed similar neuroanatomical and neurochemical characteristics to human HE in liver cirrhosis. Brain edema and inflammatory activation can be detected under these circumstances.
PMID: 16729306 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]