Figure 4. H₂S levels and production, hepatic hydroxyproline, portal pressure and spleen weight in the treatment experiment.

Liver cirrhosis was induced in rats as in Figure 3, and then the rats were assigned to three groups (Each group had 6 rats), and received daily injection of saline, NaHS or PAG, respectively, for 5 days, and then killed. (A) Blood samples were collected and the serum levels of H₂S were measured. (B) Blood samples were collected from portal vein to measure the levels of H₂S in portal vein (B). The hepatic H₂S producing activity (C) and hydroxyproline contents (D) were measured. The portal pressure was measured (E), and each spleen was weighed as % of bodyweight (F). Results are expressed as mean ± SD. A significant increase from saline-treated rats is denoted by “‡”, and a significant reduction by “#”.