The effect of chemical sympathectomy on acute liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

The effects of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute liver injury were examined in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). Plasma glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) activity was increased in both strains after one dose of CCl4 administration, although the increase was more significant in SHR than in WKY. Pretreatment with 6-OHDA inhibited the increase in GPT activity after CCl4 administration in both strains and especially in SHR. 6-OHDA also reduced the noradrenaline (NA) content of the liver and increased the hepatic blood flow in both strains. It caused a greater decrease in blood pressure in SHR than in WKY. The results suggest that 6-OHDA blocks the sympathetic neural activity in the liver, resulting in vasodilatation and increase in hepatic blood flow and thereby alleviating the circulatory disturbance produced by CCl4 preventing acute liver damage, especially in SHR.