Rho‐kinase inhibitor targeting the liver prevents ischemia/reperfusion injury in the steatotic liver without major systemic adversity in rats
Shintaro Kuroda, Hirotaka Tashiro, Yasuhiro Kimura, Kaori Hirata, Misaki Tsutada, Yoshihiro Mikuriya, Tsuyoshi Kobayashi, Hironobu Amano, Yuka Tanaka, Hideki Ohdan – 11 October 2014 – Rho‐kinase (ROCK) inhibitors improve liver blood flow after ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury, especially in the setting of steatosis, by decreasing the resistance of intrahepatic microcirculation through hepatic stellate cell (HSC) relaxation. However, the systemic administration of ROCK inhibitors causes severe hypotension; therefore, liver‐specific ROCK inhibition is required.