STUDIES ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE LIVER

Abstract

The ability of the perfused liver to destroy nicotine was studied with heart-lung preparations. The nicotine was estimated by its effect on the blood pressure of a small dog. Control experiments were performed by perfusing the hind limb in a similar fashion. The ability of the liver to destroy nicotine was definitely greater than that of an equivalent mass of hind limb. The action of a comparable dose of nicotine on the blood pressure of a dog after hepatectomy was much more pronounced than before hepatectomy. Following equal doses of nicotine, normal and splenectomized frogs recovered much more rapidly than partially and completely dehepatized frogs. In relation to the liver''s function to inactivate nicotine it is suggested that (1) if the ability to destroy nicotine is a function of living tissue it is possible that an active tissue like the liver would possess more of this ability; (2) since the liver structurally is like a sponge, the contact of the hepatic cells with the vascular circulation is an intimate one; the possibility for surface phenomena (absorption, condensation, and dehydrogenation) becomes facilitated, and (3) it is probable at any given moment that there are present in the liver a number of highly reactive chemicals which may easily combine with nicotine as it courses through the organ.