Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy and Neuroinflammation

Abstract

Although the pathophysiology of HE is not completely elucidated, ammonia plays a key role [11]. Hyperammonaemia alters the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in rats, increasing the influx of toxic substances into the brain [12]. Norenberg et al. [13] described, in an in vitro model, mitochondrial dysfunction oxidative and nitrosative stress as the main source of free radicals in the CNS under hyperammonaemia conditions [13].The bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and the ammonia produced by the intestinal bacteria arrive through the portal vein, and