Abstract
Blood samples were taken simultaneously from the humeral artery (H.A.) and the hepatic vein (H.V.) of 7 male adults Somatomedin (SM) activity was measured by the incorporation of 35S into embryonic chick cartilage, and growth hormone assayed by radio immunology. In 9 out of 10 cases the concentration of SM in the hepatic venal blood was found to be superior to that in the arterial blood The mean of the differences in SM activity (H.V.-H.A.) was + 0,29±0.10 (standard error) units/ml. This difference is significant. In these conditions, the hepatic venal blood yielded a SM activity 47% ± 16% higher than that in the humeral artery. In the 3 cases where a second pair of samples were taken 20 or 40 minutes after the first, a similar difference was observed. However, in the 11 subjects tested for growth hormone, no significant difference was found between the concentration of growth hormone in the 2 types of blood. The observation of high SM levels in the efferent blood of the liver tends support to the experimental findings of McConaghey who proposed the liver as the site of SM production. However, taking into consideration the hepatic plasma flow (measured in 3 cases Q = 0.810 1/min) the importance of the differences observed must be regarded as questionable, since these would imply a very large production of SM. In this respect, the measured SM activity has to be discussed.
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Girard, F., Schimpff, R., Lassare, C. et al. SOMATOMEDIN ACTIVITY IN THE HUMAN HEPATIC VEIN. Pediatr Res 9, 683 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197508000-00096
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197508000-00096