Fig. 3.

Treatment effects in the cirrhotic rats. A, Rats received common bile duct ligation (BDL) to induce liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension. They were randomly allocated into three groups to receive distilled water as vehicle control (BD), LCZ696 (BL), or valsartan (BV) for 4 wk (n = 8, 6, 7). B, Both LCZ696 and valsartan significantly attenuated portal hypertension compared with the control group. There was no significant difference between the BL and BV groups. C, MAP and SVR markedly decreased in the LCZ696 and valsartan groups compared with the control group, while CI was not affected. PP was significantly correlated with MAP (p < 0.0001) and SVR (p = 0.0024). D, Blood flow in hepatic, splanchnic, and portosystemic collateral systems was not affected. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. CI = cardiac index; MAP = mean arterial pressure; PP = portal pressure; SMA = superior mesenteric artery; SRS = splenorenal shunt; SVR = systemic vascular resistance.