Measurement of hepatic blood flow in the rat using fractional clearance of indocyanine green and colloidal radiogold.

Two new methods are described to measure hepatic blood flow in the anaesthetized rat. These methods are based on the fractional clearance and extraction of indocyanine green, which is removed by hepatocytes, and of colloidal radiogold, which is removed by Kupffer cells. Hepatic blood flow was found to be 2.11 +/- 0.35 ml . min-1 . g liver-1 (mean +/- SD) and 2.01 +/- 0.31 ml . min-1 . g liver-1, respectively, with these two substances (P greater than 0.80).