Effects of asymmetric dimethylarginine on renal arteries in portal hypertension and cirrhosis

Figure 2 Effects of nitric oxide synthase inhibitors on basal nitric oxide release in renal artery. Contractions induced by L-NAME (n = 8) and ADMA (n = 8) on rings of rat renal artery with endothelium from Sham, PPVL, and BDL groups in the absence and in the presence of L-arginine (L-arg, 10^-3 mol/L, n = 6). Contractions were determined after evoking submaximal tone with 10^-7-3 × 10^-7 mol/L norepinephrine. PPVL: Pre-hepatic portal hypertension; BDL: Bile duct ligation; ADMA: Asymmetric dimethylarginine; L-NAME: N^G-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester.