Catecholamines induce an inflammatory response in human hepatocytes.

Objective: The liver is an early target organ in sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock, contributing to multiple organ failure, and both lipopolysaccharide and gut-derived catecholamines are implicated in the occurrence of hepatocellular dysfunction. Treatment of septic shock involves administration of vasoactive agents such as exogenous catecholamines or vasopressin in order to reestablish blood pressure. As a prelude to clinical application, we tested the hypothesis that catecholamines could modulate the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response and function in human liver.