Hepatic O2 transport and energy balance in hyperdynamic porcine endotoxin shock: NG-monornethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) versus noradrenaline.

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition is currently investigated as a treatment of arterial hypotension associated with septic shock, but controversial data are available with respect to hepatic O2 balance. Therefore we studied the effect of NOS inhibition with L-NMMA on liver O2 transport as well as energy balance, in comparison to a standard treatment with noradrenaline (NOR) in a hyperdynamic endotoxin (ETX) shock model.