S u rn rn a r yTwo steps of infusion with NH4C1 (20 or 30 pmol' min-' . kg-') were employed in four sheep by continuous infusion into the mesenteric vein within 120 minutes. Hepatic ammonia uptake was limited and reached 1.45 prnol . min-' . g-' of fresh wet hepatic tissue at the end of infusion. Blood ammonia levels rose in peripheral arterial blood up to 500 pmol.l-' with the higher dose. Urea synthesis increased during NH,C1 infusion and was higher than needed for ammonia removal, particularly during the second hour of ammonia load. Even one hour after the experimental treatment, liver urea was continually being synthesized at a similar intensity, whereas ammonia uptake had declined. Portal and hepatic blood flow decreased in conditions of local portal hyperammonaemia and increased when the peripheral ammonia level was elevated.
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