M Yano, H Kumada, M Kage, K Ikeda, K Shimamatsu, O Inoue, E Hashimoto, J H Lefkowitch, J Ludwig, K Okuda – 1 June 1996 – Most patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) develop chronic hepatitis. Unfortunately, the pathological evolution of this disease over time is not completely understood. We studied 70 HCV‐positive patients, from whom 2 to 10 liver biopsy specimens (mean, 3.9) had been obtained during an interval of 1 to 26 years (mean, 8.8 years).

K M Boberg, O Fausa, T Haaland, E Holter, O J Mellbye, A Spurkland, E Schrumpf – 1 June 1996 – Overlapping features between primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) have previously been noted. To assess systematically similarities between these disorders, we have evaluated 114 PSC patients (36 women; 78 men), all confirmed by endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC), according to a scoring system proposed by The International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group for the diagnosis of AIH.

H Saito, S Tada, H Ebinuma, K Atsukawa, T Masuda, Y Inagaki, K Tsuchimoto, T Morizane, H Ishii – 1 June 1996 – A gene encoding the variable regions of the heavy and light chains of a mouse monoclonal antibody designated H2, which specifically reacts with human liver cells, was cloned into a phagemid vector. The clone of the variable region was designed to be expressed as a separate protein, the structure of which is the same as that of the mouse antibody.

M Borgs, M Bollen, S Keppens, S H Yap, W Stalmans, F Vanstapel – 1 June 1996 – We perfused livers from fed rats with a balanced salt solution containing 1 mmol/L glucose. Under these conditions a low steady rate of glycogenolysis was observed (approximately 1.7 μmol glucose equivalents/g/min; 20% of the maximal glycogenolytic activity). Nitric oxide (NO) transiently stimulated hepatic glucose production. A maximal response (on average doubling basal glucose output) was observed with 34 μmol/L NO. The same concentration of nitrite (NO2‐) was ineffective.

E Tanaka, K Kiyosawa, A Matsumoto, T Kashiwakuma, A Hasegawa, H Mori, O Yanagihara, Y Ohta – 1 June 1996 – The quantitation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) viremia can be helpful in the diagnosis, therapy, and monitoring of patients with chronic hepatitis C. A sensitive and quantitative fluorescence enzyme immunoassay (FEIA) has recently been developed for assaying HCV core protein in serum.

H W Horowitz, B Dworkin, G Forseter, R B Nadelman, C Connolly, B B Luciano, J Nowakowski, T A O'Brien, M Calmann, G P Wormser – 1 June 1996 – To evaluate the frequency, pattern, and severity of liver function test abnormalities in patients with Lyme disease associated with erythema migrans (EM), 115 individuals with no other identifiable cause for liver function test abnormalities who presented with EM between July 1990 and September 1993 were prospectively evaluated.

S K Acharya, S Dasarathy, T L Kumer, S Sushma, K S Prasanna, A Tandon, V Sreenivas, S Nijhawan, S K Panda, S K Nanda, M Irshad, Y K Joshi, S Duttagupta, R K Tandon, B N Tandon – 1 June 1996 – The profiles of patients with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) from developing countries have not been reported earlier. The current study was conducted prospectively, at a single tertiary care center in India, to document the demographic and clinical characteristics, natural course, and causative profile of patients with FHF as well as to define simple prognostic markers in these patients.

D H Adams, Q Liu – 1 June 1996 – The macroglide immunosuppressant FK506 is effective at preventing and reversing hepatic allograft rejection. The establishment of graft rejection is dependent upon an influx of lymphocytes from the circulation into the graft in response to locally secreted chemotactic factors. Thus, inhibition of lymphocyte migration might be an additional mode of action of FK506 that could block lymphocyte recruitment to rejecting liver allografts.

D Trinder, O Zak, P Aisen – 1 June 1996 – The hepatic uptake of transferrin‐bound iron by a nontransferrin receptor (NTR)‐mediated process was investigated using the human hepatoma cell line HuH7. Because HuH7 cells also acquire iron from transferrin by a receptor (TR)‐mediated process, TR expression was inhibited by transfecting the cells with a plasmid containing human TR complementary DNA in antisense orientation relative to a human cytomegalovirus promoter/enhancer element.

J C Lopez‐Talavera, G Cadelina, J Olchowski, W Merrill, R J Groszmann – 1 June 1996 – A hyperdynamic circulatory state frequently is observed in portal hypertension with liver failure or extensive portal‐systemic shunting. Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF) causes marked hypotension in mammals by inducing nitric oxide synthesis and has been shown to play a role in the development of the hemodynamic changes observed in portal hypertension. Thalidomide selectively inhibits TNF production by enhancing messenger RNA degradation.