Canimlation of an Hepatic Vein, the Portal Vein and a Mesenteric Vein in the Cow, and its Use in the Measurement of Blood Flow Rates

Percutaneous ultrasound-guided over-the-wire catheterization of the portal and hepatic vessels in cattle

A new method for catheterization of the portal and hepatic veins in cattle by means of the over-the-wire system was investigated to maintain more reliable long-term patency of catheters. Four cattle were used to evaluate the success rate, patency and safety of the procedure. The catheters, coated by urokinase were patent as long as they were in situ. In addition, the introducer was useful to prevent the catheter from being broken. No complications developed during the10 days after the procedure. Two cows were then euthanized. Post mortem findings were minimal. The results of the study reported here are promising, the benefits are significant and there is no apparent disadvantage to its use.

Ultrasound-guided catheterization of the portal vein in 11 cows using the Seldinger technique

Catheterization of the portal vein using the Seldinger technique [Acta Radiol. (1958) 38, 368] was performed in 11 cows. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous portocentesis, using a 25-cm, 14-gauge steel cannula, was performed from the 10th, 11th or 12th intercostal space on the right side. A stylet was placed through the cannula, which was then removed, and a polyurethane balloon-tipped catheter was advanced over the stylet into the portal vein and sutured to the skin (Seldinger, 1952). Blood samples were collected from the catheter at least once daily. The catheter was removed 9-15 days later when blood could no longer be aspirated. The cows were then slaughtered and a post-mortem examination was performed. During the study, appetite remained normal in nine of 11 cows. In three cows, the general behaviour and demeanour were mildly, but transiently, abnormal. Four cows had leucopoenia. The most frequently encountered problem was occlusion of the catheter, which usually was resolved by flushing with heparinized saline. The most common post-mortem lesion observed was an increase in fibrous connective tissue at the site of cannulation. In nine of 11cows, there was a thrombus in the portal vein at the site of catheterization. Generally, the severity of the lesions was mild. The results of this study demonstrated that ultrasound-guided percutaneous catheterization of the portal vein, using the Seldinger technique, is possible in cows. The catheter may be left in place for collection of blood samples for up to 15 days.

Absorption and delivery of nutrients for milk protein synthesis by portal-drained viscera

The predictability of diet effects on milk composition is limited by the lack of understanding of the metabolic transformations that absorbed nutrients undergo within the portal-drained viscera and liver of high yielding dairy cows. The mass of splanchnic tissues increases dramatically in early lactation, but little is known about the regulation of gut growth and adaptation in early lactation, and further research may provide strategies for optimizing gut adaptation. Glucose is critical for milk synthesis, but portal-drained visceral tissues normally use rather than absorb glucose on a net basis. Dietary starch of low ruminal digestibility increases postruminal starch digestion and decreases net use of glucose by portal-drained viscera slightly, but increases in glucose absorption by portal-drained viscera never account fully for increases in starch disappearance from the small intestine and occur at the expense of VFA absorption. For cows in positive energy balance, greater glucose availability increases tissue energy balance and glucose oxidation, but has little effect on milk or milk protein yield. Similarly, chronic increases in propionate absorption have little effect on milk or milk protein yield. In contrast, casein infusion into the small intestine consistently increases milk and milk protein yield, but the mechanisms responsible remain unclear. There are few data describing the absorption and metabolism of AA by splanchnic tissues of lactating dairy cows, but, as for glucose and VFA, utilization of many AA by portal-drained viscera is substantial. In addition, the contribution of peptides to AA absorption and transport is uncertain and must be clarified. Therefore, measurements of nutrient disappearance from the lumen of the gut cannot be equated with nutrient appearance in the portal vein. Data describing metabolism of nutrients by portal-drained viscera and liver of high yielding dairy cows are needed to improve feeding standards.

The effect of forage and forage-concentrate diets on rumen fermentation and metabolism of nutrients by the mesenteric- and portal-drained viscera in growing steers

Growing Friesian steers chronically catheterized in the anterior mesenteric and portal veins were used to study the influence of feeding with either a forage or forage-concentrate diet on nutrient utilization by mucosal tissue. When animals were consuming the forage-concentrate diet the molar proportion of propionate in rumen fluid was significantly increased, although production rate as measured by isotope dilution was not altered. Net rates of absorption of VFA into portal blood when compared with rumen production rates underlined the extent to which metabolism within mucosal tissue modifies the propionate supply to the liver. Net glucose utilization by splanchnic tissue was shown to be significantly lower on the forage-concentrate diet. There were no effects of diet on whole-body glucose turnover or on the proportion of glucose derived from propionate. Animals fed on the forage-concentrate diet had significantly lower concentrations of circulating essential amino acids, due mainly to a reduction in branched-chain amino acid levels. There was net absorption of all amino acids by animals on both diets except for glutamate, glutamine and taurine in forage-fed animals.

Techniques for measuring blood flow in splanchnic tissues of cattle

A useful approach of the study of nutrient absorption and metabolism is in vivo measurement of blood flow across portal-drained viscera and liver, and flux of bloodborne metabolites, successful application of the approach requires correct placement of chronic catheters in appropriate blood vessels. Additionally, catheters must stay patent long enough to allow the animal to recover from surgery and to complete an experimental protocol. This paper describes surgical techniques to install chronic catheters in mesenteric veins, the hepatic portal vein, and an hepatic vein of cattle. Techniques for access to arterial blood are described also. Materials, equipment, and supplies required for surgery, blood sampling, and blood flow determination are described. Commercial sources of supplies are suggested. Blood flow is measured by downstream dilution of para-aminohippurate, which is infused into a mesenteric vein. Examples of blood flow data for three types of cattle are provided.

Method for continuous measurement of blood metabolite hepatic balance in conscious preruminant calves

A method of continuous in vivo flow measurement of plasma metabolites through the liver in calves was described. Five 2-wk old male calves were fitted with chronic catheters in the hepatic and portal veins and in the hepatic artery and with electromagnetic blood flow probes in the portal vein and in the hepatic artery. The reliability of measurements was tested during a 3-wk period in which calves were fed milk diets that curdled or did not curdle (uncurdled) in the abomasum. In comparison with a conventional curdled milk diet, the intake of uncurdled milk diet did not modify mean portal vein (47 to 49 ml.mn-1.kg live weight-1) or hepatic arterial (5.6 to 5.7 ml.mn-1.kg live weight-1) blood flows but did influence nycthemeral variations in portal blood flow rates, especially during the second part of the night.

Surgical cannulation of a hepatic vein in dairy cows utilizing diagnostic ultrasound

Use of a diagnostic ultrasonography unit in the placement of hepatic vein catheters is described. Diagnostic ultrasound proved to be a safe and rapid means of identifying the hepatic venous circulation. It provided a clear visual guide in an otherwise blind surgical procedure and allowed for a precise determination of catheter placement. Thus, the method could be used to advantage in other types of catheterizations. Use of ultrasonography reduced the duration of surgery by 50 to 75%, thereby minimizing the risks associated with long-term general anesthesia and reducing recovery time.

A novel form of dependency of hepatic extraction ratio of opioids in vivo upon the portal vein concentration of drug: comparison of morphine, diamorphine, fentanyl, methadone and buprenorphine in the chronically cannulated cow

In the chronically cannulated cow, the hepatic extraction ratio for intravenous boluses of morphine, diamorphine, fentanyl, methadone and buprenorphine increased towards a plateau value as portal vein drug concentration increased. An extraction ratio close to zero for morphine was observed at a portal vein plasma drug concentration of about 200 nanomol per litre, which is within the range for significant pharmacodynamic effects. The similar concentrations extrapolated for the other narcotics would be of less pharmacodynamic importance. The phenomenon did not depend with morphine on the history of drug delivery to the liver; measurement of hepatic blood flow showed the effect was not an artifact of unrepresentative blood sampling, and was not related to any action of the narcotics on hepatic blood flow. The existence of this novel type of concentration dependent hepatic extraction ratio in vivo can explain a number of anomalous observations on narcotic pharmacokinetics, especially for morphine. Furthermore, similar behaviour may be expected for non-opioid drugs having similar pharmacokinetic properties.

Blood flow and nutrient exchange across the liver and gut of the dairy cow. Effects of lactation and fasting

The rate of blood flow in the portal and hepatic veins, and the net exchange across the gut and liver of volatile fatty acids (VFA), glucose, lactate, pyruvate, amino acids, ketone bodies, glycerol, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and oxygen, were measured in lactating and non-lactating cows (a) in the normal, fed state and (b) before, during and after 6 d of fasting. Blood flow rate through the liver was 52% higher in normal, fed, lactating cows as compared with non-lactating cows, and was decreased by fasting in both groups of cows. Portal blood flow rate increased with an increase in metabolizable energy (ME) intake. Lactating, as compared with non-lactating, cows exhibited lower arterial concentrations of glucose and lactate, higher net portal outputs of VFA and ketone bodies, a higher net hepatic output of glucose, and higher net hepatic uptake of propionate and lactate. The splanchnic outputs of acetate, glucose and hydroxybutyrate were all apparently greater in the lactating cows. Fasting caused a rapid decrease in the blood concentrations of the VFA and an increase in those of glycerol and NEFA. The portal, i.e. gut, outputs of VFA, lactate, ketone bodies, alanine and (serine + threonine), and the portal uptake of O2, were all decreased by fasting. Fasting for 6 h also decreased the hepatic output of glucose and acetate by 77 and 95% respectively, increased the hepatic uptake of pyruvate, glycerol and NEFA, and doubled hepatic ketone-body output. The splanchnic output of acetate and glucose and the splanchnic uptake of O2 were also decreased by fasting. The net portal outputs of VFA, lactate and hydroxybutyrate, and the net hepatic output of glucose, were all correlated with ME intake in fed and fasted cows. Hepatic glucose output was also correlated with milk yield. The net hepatic uptake of gluconeogenic precursors measured in this study could account for net hepatic glucose output in the fasted cows, but not in the fed cows. The net hepatic uptake of the ketogenic precursors butyrate and NEFA was sufficient to account for the hepatic output of ketone bodies in both fed and fasted cows, but it is unlikely that the hepatic uptake of ketogenic precursors could also account for the observed hepatic output of acetate.

Portal blood flow and net absorption of ammonia-nitrogen, urea-nitrogen, and glucose in nonlactating Holstein cows

Portal blood flow was measured in nonlactating Holstein cows by primed, continuous infusion of para-aminohippuric acid into a mesenteric vein and periodic collection of blood from the portal vein and femoral artery. Cows ranged in age from 2 to 4 yr; average body weight was 472 kg. They were fed ad libitum orchardgrass-red clover silage. Results of Experiment 1 in which portal blood flow was measured in four cows at 10-min intervals over 3 h indicate that flow can vary by a factor of three in a given cow. In Experiment 2, portal blood flow and net absorption of ammonia-nitrogen, urea-nitrogen, and glucose were measured in cows for 10 to 12 h. Mean portal blood flow (liters/h) and net absorption (mmoles/h) of ammonia-nitrogen, urea-nitrogen, and glucose were 836 +/- 32, 121 +/- 8, -52 +/- 14, and -39 +/- 16.

The maximum capacity of the liver of the adult dairy cow to metabolize ammonia

1. Three adult dairy cows were fitted with cannulas in a mesenteric, portal, hepatic and jugular vein and a carotid artery. They received infusions of step-wise increasing amounts of ammonia as ammonium acetate via a mesenteric vein until NH 3 intoxication occurred. Sodium acetate was used in control infusions. The maximum rate of uptake of NH3 by the liver and the concentrations of glucose, urea, lactate, acetate and bilirubin in blood were measured. 2. During the infusions of ammonium acetate the liver extracted almost all the NH3 present in the portal vein until an infusion rate of approximately 15.0 mmol/min was reached. The maximum capacity of the liver to remove NH3 during its first pass was on average 1.84 mmol/min per kg wet weight. The cows became intoxicated when arterial plasma ammonia concentrations reached 0.8 mmol/l. Concentrations of NH3 in jugular venous blood were between 66 and 74% of those in the carotid.

Selenium metabolism in the dairy cow: the influence of the liver and the effect of the form of Se salt

1. Six adult Friesian cows were given 75Se as either 75SeO32- or 75SeO42- intravenously. Five of the cows had cannulas in an hepatic vein, the portal vein and one carotid artery to enable the uptake of 75Se by the liver to be measured. Radioactive balance studies were carried out on two of the cows given 75SeO32- and two given 75SeO42-. A seventh cow was given an oral dose of 75Se-labelled barley and the excretion of 75Se in faeces, urine and milk was measured for 14 d. 2. After the injection of 75SeO32- plasma 75Se concentration decreased during the first 30 min with a mean half-life (t 1/2) of 15.6 min. From 30 to 60 min after dosing the concentration of radioactivity increased to reach approximately 50% of the level present 2 min after dosing. Following the injection of 75SeO42- the 75Se was cleared with a mean t 1/2 of 28.5 min during the first 30 min and plasma radioactivity increased only slightly during the next 30 min. 3. during the phase of rapid clearance of 75Se after the injection of 75SeO32- the hepatic venous 75Se concentration was approximately 5% lower than portal venous 75Se concentration. During the period when plasma 75Se activity was increasing the activity in hepatic venous plasma was 3% greater than portal activity. Of the 75Se cleared from plasma after injecting 75SeO32- 40% was calculated to be removed by the liver. 4. After intravenous dosing with 75SeO32- or 75SeO42- approximately 9.5 and 17.0% respectively of the dose injected was excreted in faeces and 10% in urine within 14 d. Almost three times as much 75Se was excreted in urine and 3.5 times as much in faeces during the first 24 h after dosing with 75SeO42- as after 75SeO32-.

A technique for the chronic study of the hepatic uptake and excretion of substances in the conscious pig

The pig is an ideal animal for studies of hepatic metabolism and the handling of drugs by the liver because of the many similarities in liver function to that in man. In this report we describe for the first time, in this animal, methods for the chronic implantation of sampling catheters in the major hepatic vessels and for the construction of an external biliary shunt. This model has many advantages in that it permits in the conscious animal intermittent, simultaneous and precise sampling of the hepatic uptake and clearance of substances and intermittent sampling of bile, without permanent interruption of the enterophepatic circulation. The effectiveness of this preparation has been assessed in 55 pigs. It was demonstrated that the majority of catheters remained patent for at least three days and in many cases for much longer. No significant alteration in liver function could be shown for at least seven days after surgery.

Interrelationships between acetylation and the disposal of acetyl groups in the livers of dairy cows

Possible mechanisms by which the degree of acetylation of hepatic CoA might be regulated were examined in lactating and in non-lactating dairy cows. This involved the measurement of the hepatic steady-state concentrations of free CoA, acetyl-CoA, free carnitine, acetylcarnitine and total acid-soluble carnitine in freezeclamped biopsy samples, the measurement of the hepatic release of acetate from acetylcarnitine in vitro, and the measurement of the rate of hepatic output of acetate and ketone bodies in vivo.

The hepatic ratio of [free CoA]/[acetyl-CoA] was 0·11 in lactating cows and 0·59 in non-lactating cows. There was a significant rise in the hepatic concentration of acetyl-CoA and a significant fall in that of total acid-soluble carnitine in the lactating cows as compared with the non-lactating cows.

There was a net in vivo output of acetate and of ketone bodies from the livers of both lactating and non-lactating cows. The rates of output amounted to 7·77 and 2·00 mmole/min for acetate and ketone bodies respectively in the lactating cows, and 4·95 and 2·14 mmole/min in the non-lactating cows.

The rate of enzymic release of acetate from acetylcarnitine in vitro amounted to 0·93 and 0·34 μmole min−1(g wet wt)−1at 37 °C for liver homogenates derived from lactating and non-lactating cows respectively. The activity observed in the case of the lactating cows was sufficient to account for the rate of hepatic acetate output observed in vivo.