Prostacyclin decreases splanchnic vascular contractility in cirrhotic rats

Prostacyclin has been shown to increase portal hypertension, but the mechanism is unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether the overproduction of prostacyclin (PGI2) in cirrhosis participates in the splanchnic vascular hyporesponsiveness to vasoconstrictors in cirrhotic rats.

Cirrhotic model was created by subcutaneous injection of 60% carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) corn oil solution combined with intermittent drinking of 5% alcohol, and age-matched rats served as controls. The isolated third-generation mesenteric arterioles were used to examine the contractile response to norepinephrine. The changes in vascular diameter were observed under a microscope imaging device. The plasma concentration of 6-ketone-prostaglandin F1alpha (6-keto-PGF1alpha, a stable metabolite of PGI2) was tested via enzyme immunoassays and the expression of cyclooxygenase (COX) in mesenteric arteries was detected by Western blotting.

In parallel with the increase of plasma 6-keto-PGF1alpha, the contractile response of arterioles from cirrhotic rats to norepinephrine was significantly impaired compared with that from controls. Inhibition of PGI2 or protein kinase A with indomethacin or Rp-adenosine 3', 5'-cyclic monophosphothioate (Rp-cAMPS) partially reversed the vascular hypo-contractile response to norepinephrine in arterioles from cirrhotic rats. Indomethacin significantly decreased the plasma 6-keto-PGF1alpha. Furthermore, indomethacin significantly attenuated the effect of Rp-cAMPS on arterioles from cirrhotic rats. COX-1 expression was up-regulated in mesenteric arteries from cirrhotic rats, whereas COX-2 was not detectable in the mesenteric arteries from both cirrhotic and control rats.

Enhanced COX-1 expression in cirrhotic rats resulted in elevated PGI2 production which partially contributed to the splanchnic vascular hyporesponsiveness to a vasoconstrictor via the protein kinase A pathway.