Splanchnic extraction rates of adrenaline and noradrenaline were determined in seven normal subjects and in nine patients with cirrhosis of the liver using arterial-hepatic venous catherization . Both catecholamines were effectively removed when the blood passed through the splanchnic area: splanchnic fractional uptake of adrenaline in normal subjects was 90 +/- 3%, and lower for noradrenaline, 68 +/- 4% (P less than 0.001). Net splanchnic extraction rates were higher for noradrenaline (126 +/- 16 ng/min) than for adrenaline (40 +/- 10 ng/min, P less than 0.001), probably due to the higher arterial plasma levels of noradrenaline. Resting arterial adrenaline and noradrenaline levels were significantly higher in cirrhotic patients than in normal subjects (adrenaline: 121 +/- 27 vs 54 +/- 8 pg/ml, P less than 0.05; noradrenaline: 678 +/- 89 vs 251 +/- 26 pg/ml, P less than 0.005). Net splanchnic catecholamine uptake was increased in cirrhotic patients. The results demonstrate that the splanchnic bed in normal and cirrhotic subjects extracts plasma catecholamines efficiently; they suggest that elevated plasma catecholamines in cirrhosis are not the result of impaired splanchnic catecholamine removal.
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Keller et al. (1984) studied this question.