Jeffry A. Lowell, Sandy Burgess, Surendra Shenoy, John A. Curci, Marion Peters, Todd K. Howard – 1 November 1996

R E Poupon, P M Huet, R Poupon, A Bonnand, J T Van Nhieu, E S Zafrani – 1 November 1996 – The efficacy of colchicine combined with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and UDCA alone in the treatment of patients with nonadvanced primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) was evaluated in a 2‐year controlled study. Seventy‐four patients with PBC who had been treated previously with UDCA (at least 8 months) but still had abnormal liver test results, especially elevated alkaline phosphatase activity, were randomized to be administered colchicine (1 mg/d, 5 days per week) (n = 37) or a placebo (n = 37).

J Maltby, S Wright, G Bird, N Sheron – 1 November 1996 – Alcoholic hepatitis is characterized by parenchymal neutrophil infiltration. Hepatic synthesis of the neutrophil chemokine interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) is highly elevated in alcoholic hepatitis and levels correlate with the degree of neutrophil infiltration. The aim of this study was to further determine the spectrum of synthesis of chemokines in liver tissue from patients with alcoholic liver disease and a range of disease control subjects.

H Leyland, J Gentry, M J Arthur, R C Benyon – 1 November 1996 – Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) generates plasmin, a process inhibited by plasminogen‐activator inhibitor (PAI)‐1 and localized to the cell surface by binding of uPA to a specific receptor. Plasmin degrades extracellular matrix (ECM) both directly and by activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Because stellate cells play a central role in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis both via production of ECM proteins and through secretion of MMPs, their contribution to plasmin generation was assessed.

W M Frederiks, K S Bosch – 1 November 1996 – Activity of xanthine oxidoreductase (total xanthine dehydrogenase plus xanthine oxidase) and xanthine oxidase was determined cytophotometrically in periportal and pericentral areas of livers of rats under various (patho)physiological conditions that are known to affect the content of reduced glutathione. For this purpose, rats were either normally fed or fasted for 24 hours, fasted for 24 hours, and treated with diethylmaleate that depleted glutathione or treated by in vivo ischemia for 2 hours in the livers.

C Chan, K DasGupta, A L Baker – 1 November 1996 – After liver transplantation, long‐term cyclosporin A (CsA) administration is commonly complicated by renal insufficiency and other side effects. To manage these problems, 1.5 to 2.0 mg · kg‐1 · day‐1 of azathioprine for at least 6 weeks was prescribed; CsA was then discontinued or reduced to < or = 2.5 mg · kg‐1 · day‐1 for several months. The dose of prednisone was kept constant.

S Parkkila, A Parkkila, T Juvonen, A Waheed, W S Sly, J Saarnio, K Kaunisto, S Kellokumpu, H Rajaniemi – 1 November 1996 – Alkaline hepatic bile is acidified in the gallbladder to prevent calcium precipitation and gallstone formation. Because membrane‐bound carbonic anhydrase (CA) isoenzyme IV participates with cytoplasmic CA II in the acidification of urine in the kidney, we studied its expression in different regions of the human biliary tract using immunohistochemical techniques.

A W Burr, K J Hillan, K E McLaughlin, R Ferrier, C Chapman, J Mathew, A D Burt – 1 November 1996 – Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is mitogenic for hepatocytes and some tumor cell lines. Elevations in plasma HGF levels have been detected in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and it is possible that HGF is involved in the promotion and/or progression of tumor growth. We measured serum and liver tissue HGF levels during chemically induced hepatocarcinogenesis. Wistar rats were given diethylnitrosamine (DEN) in drinking water for 10 weeks with controls receiving drinking water only.

C Tiribelli, J D Ostrow – 1 November 1996 – The workshop covered three major areas: Unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) chemistry and physical chemistry; UCB transport and intracellular trafficking; and evaluation and therapy of neonatal and congenital hyperbilirubinemias. Findings of studies in the chemistry and physical chemistry area were as follows. (1) Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of highly enriched 13COOH mesobilirubin in water‐dimethyl sulfoxide systems indicated that the pKa values of the carboxyl groups are 4.2 and 4.9, respectively.

G Marinos, N V Naoumov, R Williams – 1 November 1996 – Interferon alfa (IFN‐α) treatment is effective in only a proportion of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The mechanisms for therapeutic failure remain unknown but high levels of HBV replication are known to inhibit the immunopotentiating effects of IFN‐α.