Role of the central nervous system in hepatic steroid and ammonia metabolism

Abstract

(1) Abnormal fraction patterns of urinary 17-ketosteroids and hyperammoniemia, which may indicate metabolic disturbances in the liver, were frequently observed during the psychotic phase of a group of patients with acute psychosis. Such hepatic dysfunction may be due to a breakdown of “cerebro-hepatic homeostasis”. Animal experiments were carried out to explore this hypothesis. (2) Electrical stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus in rabbits inhibited the production of androsterone from Δ 4-androstene-3,17-dione in the liver. Forced running stress and LSD administration in rats gave the same result. (3) Stimulation of the same nucleus in rabbits resulted in a decrease in the activities of the arginine synthetase system and arginase in the liver, and an increase in the concentration of blood ammonia. (4) These experimental results coincide well with clinical findings and support the idea that the cerebro-hepatic axis may play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute psychoses.