Selective sympathectomy of the liver: a comparison of orthotopic liver transplantation and intraportal 6-hydroxydopamine injection.

1. Tissue noradrenaline (NA) levels correlate well with the extent of sympathetic innervation of that tissue. 2. In this study the distribution of NA throughout the different lobes of the rat liver was studied. The extent of sympathectomy by means of either orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) (n = 7) or chemical denervation by intraportal administration of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OH-DA) (n = 8) was examined. 3. In the normally innervated rat liver, NA was homogeneously distributed throughout the organ. Tissue NA was decreased both by OLT (> 99%) and 6-OH-DA (93%) (both P < 0.001 versus control). 4. Samples of the renal cortex and left ventricle were taken as reference tissues. OLT did not result in any change in reference tissue NA, however, 6-OH-DA decreased renal cortex NA by 93% and ventricular NA by 76%, respectively (both P < 0.01 versus OLT). 5. We conclude that OLT causes selective and complete hepatic sympathectomy but that 6-OH-DA causes incomplete denervation of the liver and significant denervation of other organs.