Significance of the liver arginase activity in the processes of detoxification, formation of thyroid status and dyslipidemia in rats with experimental peritonitis

Abstract

Peritonitis is a surgical and general pathological problem, the relevance of which does not decrease despite the achievements of modern clinical and experimental medicine. Peritonitis, being one of the most severe complications of various diseases and injuries to the abdominal organs, triggers a complex cascade of pathogenetic reactions with disruption of vital processes. The mortality rate for peritonitis is 20‒30 %, and in its most severe forms it reaches 50–80 %. High mortality is caused by endotoxemia, multiple organ failure and sepsis. To date, sufficient data have been accumulated, indicating the importance of liver arginase in the processes of detoxification and vital activity of the body in normal conditions and in pathology. There were reasons to believe that its activity would be significant in the pathogenesis of peritonitis. However, the elucidation of significance of the liver arginase activity in detoxification processes and in the pathogenesis of septic conditions and peritonitis in particular has been still little studied.The purpose of the study was to determine the significance of the liver arginase activity in the processes of detoxification, the formation of thyroid status and dyslipidemia in rats with experimental peritonitis (CLP-model).In experiments on rats, it was found that liver arginase and nitrogen monoxide are involved in changes in the content of total cholesterol in the liver and lipoproteins in the blood serum, the level of iodine-containing thyroid hormones in the blood plasma and body temperature during CLP-peritonitis. Developing CLP-peritonitis in the conditions of liver argina- se depression by Nω-hydroxy-nor-L-arginine at a dose of 10 mg/kg is accompanied by a more pronounced inhibition of the detoxification function of the liver, worsening changes in the content of total cholesterol in the liver and lipoproteins in the blood serum, and the level of iodine-containing hormones in the blood plasma and contributes to the development of secondary dislipoproteinemia.