Venous Plasma Concentrations of Purines following Warm Liver Ischemia in Man

transiently increased. After the Pringle maneuver alone, purine plasma concentrations were most increased. This strong rise in plasma purines caused by the Pringle ma-neuver, however, was signifi cantly attenuated by IPC. When portal venous minus arterial concentration differ-ence was calculated for inosine or hypoxanthine, the re-spective differences became positive in patients subject-ed to the Pringle maneuver and were completely prevented by preconditioning. Conclusion: These data demonstrate that (i) IPC increases formation of adeno-sine, and that (ii) the unwanted degradation of adenine nucleotides to purines caused by the Pringle maneuver can be attenuated by IPC. Because IPC also induces a decrease of portal venous minus arterial purine plasma concentration differences, IPC might possibly decrease disturbances in the energy metabolism in the intestine as well. Copyright © 2005 S. Karger AG, Base