Impaired skeletal muscle vasomotor response to infused noradrenaline in baboons with obstructive jaundice

1. We have measured muscle blood flow by a 133Xe clearance technique, and its response to noradrenaline in baboons before and 2 weeks after ligation of the bile ducts when they were jaundiced. 2. In the normal baboons, the response to noradrenaline was a dose-dependent decrease in muscle blood flow. 3. Bile-duct ligation caused no significant alteration in skeletal muscle blood flow but the response to noradrenaline in the jaundiced baboons was significantly attenuated. This effect was not observed in four sham-operated baboons.