OBJECTIVE To verify the impairment of the hepatic lipid metabolism in prehepatic portal hypertension. METHODS The concentrations of free fatty acids, diacylglycerol, triglycerides, and phospholipids were assayed by using D-[U-14C] glucose incorporation in the different lipid fractions and thin-layer chromatography and cholesterol was measured by spectrophotometry, in liver samples of Wistar rats with partial portal vein ligation at short- (1 mo) and long-term (1 year) (i.e. portal hypertensive rats) and the control rats. RESULTS In the portal hypertensive rats, liver phospholipid synthesis significantly decreased (7.42 +/- 0.50 vs 4.70 +/- 0.44 nCi/g protein; P < 0.01) and was associated with an increased synthesis of free fatty acids (2.08 +/- 0.14 vs 3.36 +/- 0.33 nCi/g protein; P < 0.05), diacylglycerol (1.93 +/- 0.2 vs 2.26 +/- 0.28 nCi/g protein), triglycerides (2.40 +/- 0.30 vs 4.49 +/- 0.15 nCi/g protein) and cholesterol (24.28 +/- 2.12 vs 57.66 +/- 3.26 mg/g protein; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Prehepatic portal hypertension in rats impairs the liver lipid metabolism. This impairment consists in an increase in lipid deposits (triglycerides, diacylglycerol and cholesterol) in the liver, accompanied by a decrease in phospholipid synthesis.