Transference of hepatic coma to normal rats from galactosamine treated donors by reverse plasma exchange

It was possible by exchange transfusion to induce the same grade of hepatic coma in normal recipients as had occurred in donors which had previously been treated with D(+) galactosamine hydrochloride (HCl). The exchange transfusion was carried out by carotid arterial and jugular venous cannulation in conscious and unrestrained recipient rats. Thus, the coma inducing compounds generated as a consequence of acute hepatic failure, appear to circulate in the plasma for a considerable time after galactosamine-HCl is cleared and these substances are able to affect the nervous system in the presence of an intact and functioning normal liver.