M Ott, S G Gupta – 1 March 1996

M Iwai, T Shimazu – 1 March 1996 – Effects of electrical stimulation of the hepatic nerves on acute liver damage were examined using isolated rat liver perfused in situ, 24 hours after intraperitoneal injection with D‐galactosamine (800 mg/kg). The leakage of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) from the liver was used as markers of acute liver damage.

John P. McVicar, Kris V. Kowdley, Carlos E. Bacchi, Darlene Barr, Christopher L. Marsh, James D. Perkins, Robert L. Carithers – 1 March 1996 – Focal rejection involves less than 20% of portal tracts in liver allograft biopsy results. The clinical significance of “focal” rejection on protocol liver biopsy results is unknown. The purpose of this study was to prospectively determine the incidence of clinically significant rejection in patients with focal rejection after orthotopic liver transplantation. Biopsy specimens from 165 consecutive transplantations in 149 patients were analyzed.

Nancy L. Ascher – 1 March 1996

J Kato, K Hasegawa, N Torii, K Yamauchi, N Hayashi – 1 March 1996 – To identify the mechanisms of viral persistence in patients with chronic hepatitis B after the acquisition of anti‐hepatitis B surface antigen antibodies (antiHBs), we serially analyzed the nucleotide sequence of the envelope region in a cohort of infected patients. Four patients with histological diagnoses of chronic hepatitis B who had at least 5 years of observance by our hospital staff were studied.

J F Fleckenstein, S M Frank, P J Thuluvath – 1 March 1996 – Autonomic neuropathy (AN) is seen in both alcohol‐induced and non‐alcohol‐induced liver disease, and when present is an independent predictor of mortality. We postulated that patients who were awaiting liver transplantation are likely to have a high prevalence of autonomic neuropathy with an associated increase in mortality. To test our hypothesis, we evaluated the presence of autonomic neuropathy using a battery of tests in 33 patients awaiting liver transplantation and prospectively followed them to determine their prognosis.

L M Colletti, S L Kunkel, A Walz, M D Burdick, R G Kunkel, C A Wilke, R M Strieter – 1 March 1996 – The liver is highly susceptible to a number of pathological insults, including ischemia/reperfusion injury. We have previously employed an animal model of hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury, and have shown that this injury induces the production and release of hepatic‐derived tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α), which mediates, in part, local liver injury following hepatic reperfusion.

X K Zhang, T Gauthier, F J Burczynski, G Q Wang, Y Gong, G Y Minuk – 1 March 1996 – Changes in potential differences (PD) across hepatocyte membranes after partial hepatectomy may play an important role in hepatic homeostatic mechanisms and regenerative activity. To date, few studies have attempted to describe the extent and duration of such changes. In the present study, we documented PD values immediately before and for a 24‐hour period after a partial hepatectomy (PHx) of 70% in healthy adult rats.

M Yamamoto, K Ogawa, M Morita, K Fukuda, Y Komatsu – 1 March 1996 – Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF‐β1) is reported to play an important role in the induction of liver cell apoptosis. In this report, we demonstrate that TGF‐β1 induces apoptosis in a rat Morris hepatoma McA‐RH8994 cell line and rat primary cultured hepatocytes at similar doses and in a similar manner. Using McA‐RH8994 cells, we screened a number of chemical reagents, aqueous extracts of crude drugs, and herbal medicines for their inhibitory activities on TGF‐β1‐induced apoptosis.

J Vassy, M Beil, T Irinopoulou, J P Rigaut – 1 March 1996 – Recent reports suggest that not only chemical but also mechanical influences from the cellular environment could have profound effects on gene activity and could act on cell differentiation and proliferation. These mechanisms involve a tissue matrix system, which includes extracellular matrix, nuclear matrix, and cytoskeleton.