SERUM NITRITE AND NITRATE LEVELS IN PORTAL HYPERTENSIVE GASTROPATHY: CORRELATION WITH ENDOSCOPIC AND MICROVESSEL CHANGES

Abstract

Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) is defined as a condition in which there are macroscopic changes of the gastric mucosa associated with mucosal and submucosal vascular ectasia and dilatation without significant histological changes of inflammation. These well-established vascular abnormalities of PHG may be explained by the gastric hemodynamic changes in portal hypertension as a part of the overall splanchnic vasodilatation or as a consequence of local factors affecting the gastric microcirculation. In recent years, nitric oxide (NO), a potent vascular endothelium-derived vasodilator, has been recognized as an important mediator of the hyperdynamic circulation and the vascular hyporeactivity to vasoconstrictors observed in portal hypertension. As a consequence, NO may play a role in the pathogenesis ofPHG.

The aim of the present study, therefore, was.to determine the serum levels of nitrite and nitrate, the end products of NO, in cirrhotic patients with PHG and to correlate these levels with the endoscopic grading of PHG and the histopathological quantitation of gastric microvessels.