Table 1.

Animal model features: Plasma ammonia, cytokine levels and neurological examination.

	Baseline	3 h Post-infusion	Intragroup differences
Plasma ammonia (nM)
Sham	114 ± 40	159 ± 141♦
PCA	329 ± 112 *	219 ± 47 ♦
PCA+NH3	368 ± 116 *	714 ± 414*	P < 0.001
PCA+LPS	292 ± 99 *	171 ± 43 ♦
PCA+NH3+LPS	242 ± 115	427 ± 96*♦	P = 0.042
Plasma cytokines (pg/ml)
IL-6
Sham	119 ± 16	163 ± 82
PCA	238 ± 11	662 ± 325
PCA+NH3	255 ± 86	424 ± 208
PCA+LPS	249 ± 51	3024 ± 4090*	P < 0.001
PCA+NH3+LPS	230 ± 19	4197 ± 4182*	P < 0.001
IL-1β
Sham	16 ± 11	56 ± 22
PCA	27 ± 21	64 ± 37
PCA+NH3	17 ± 10	28 ± 27
PCA+LPS	20 ± 22	255 ± 171*	P < 0.001
PCA+NH3+LPS	12 ± 12	168 ± 124*†	P < 0.001
TNF-α
Sham	−2 ± 4	−2 ± 5
PCA	−1 ± 4	21 ± 20
PCA+NH3	−1 ± 4	16 ± 17
PCA+LPS	−1 ± 4	73 ± 16*	P < 0.001
PCA+NH3+LPS	−1 ± 4	52 ± 6*†	P < 0.001
Reflex score
PCA	12	12
PCA+NH3	12	9	P = 0.003
PCA+LPS	12	12
PCA+NH3+LPS	12	11
Object recognition memory (discrimination ratio)
	STM	LTM
Sham	0.54 ± 0.30	0.66 ± 0.16
PCA	0.65 ± 0.15	0.61 ± 0.19
PCA+NH3	0.62 ± 0.32	0.50 ± 0.29
PCA+LPS	0.61 ± 0.11	0.33 ± 0.26
PCA+NH3+LPS	0.54 ± 0.29	0.51 ± 0.30

PCA: portacaval anastomosis; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; IL-6: interleukin-6; IL-1β: interleukin 1-β; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor- α; STM: short-term memory; LTM: long-term memory.

Note: Intergroup differences versus Sham: *P ≤ 0.05.

Intergroup differences versus PCA+NH3: ♦P ≤ 0.05.

Intergroup differences versus PCA+LPS: †P ≤ 0.05.

Intragroup differences: ANOVA/t paired baseline versus 3 h post-infusion.