Glucagon inhibition of hepatic arterial responses to hepatic nerve stimulation

The hepatic arterial vascular bed of the chloaralose-urethan-anesthetized dog was perfused with blood from a cannulated femoral artery. Hepatic arterial blood flow and perfusion pressure were measured. The hepatic periarterial postganglionic sympathetic nerves were stimulated supramaximally at 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 Hz; this caused frequency-dependent rises in the calculated hepatic arterial vascular resistance at all frequencies above the threshold of 0.1 or 0.5 Hz. Glucagon was infused intra-arterially in dosese from 0.25 to 10 microgram/min; glucagon antagonized both the vasoconstrictor effects of hepatic nerve stimulation and of intra-arterial injections of norepinephrine. The degree of antagonism of these responses was significantly correlated with the calculated hepatic arterial glucagon concentration. It is possible that glucagon released physiologically in stress and hypoglycemia may protect the hepatic arterial vasculature from the effects of increased sympathetic discharge.