Orotic acid overproduction in experimental cirrhosis of rats

Ammonia clearance, portal blood ammonia, and amino acid concentrations were studied during induction of cirrhosis by carbon tetrachloride in rats. Exposure to CCl4 vapors twice weekly for 7-16 weeks doubled orotic acid excretion. If exposure was discontinued for 7 days, the orotic acid excretion decreased despite the presence of cirrhosis proven histologically. Replacement of dietary casein with soybean protein eliminated the CCl4-induced orotic aciduria in growing rats but not in adults. Supplementation of casein with 1.5% arginine did not prevent CCl4-induced orotic aciduria. [14C]Orotate uptake into RNA and DNA of liver was not impaired. Perfusion of livers of cirrhotic animals with ammonia concentrations between 0.2 and 3.0 mM revealed no significant decreases in urea synthesis rates due to cirrhosis and no increase in the tendency to make orotic acid at a given ammonia concentration. However, ammonia uptake by cirrhotic livers was significantly reduced, resulting in higher ammonia concentrations in the effluent when there was moderate-to-severe cirrhosis. Portal blood samples taken from rats exposed to CCl4 had higher ammonia concentrations as cirrhosis worsened. The results lend support to the "intact hepatocyte" hypothesis of cirrhosis which attributes metabolic abnormalities to intrahepatic shunts.