B L Strom, R D Soloway, J Rios‐Dalenz, H A Rodriguez‐Martinez, S L West, J L Kinman, R S Crowther, D Taylor, M Polansky, J A Berlin – 1 June 1996 – To evaluate the a priori hypotheses that an increased level of glyco and tauro lithocholic acid, perhaps because of a decreased capacity for hepatic sulfation, contributed to the biochemical epidemiology of gallbladder cancer, a case‐control study was undertaken at four hospitals in La Paz, Bolivia, and at one hospital in Mexico City, Mexico.

R J Fontana, D K Turgeon, T F Woolf, M J Knapp, N L Foster, P B Watkins – 1 June 1996 – Therapy with tacrine, a promising new treatment for Alzheimer's disease, must be discontinued in up to 15% of patients because of hepatocellular toxicity. Recent studies using human liver microsomes have suggested that a single liver enzyme, cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2), catalyzes the major route of metabolism and elimination of tacrine, and also catalyzes the pathway(s) involved in the generation of reactive metabolites capable of covalent protein binding and cytotoxicity.

P Clavien, C A Camargo, R Gorczynski, M K Washington, G A Levy, B Langer, P D Greig – 1 June 1996 – Animal studies suggest that acute phase reactant cytokines and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) may play a critical role in ischemia‐ reperfusion injury. To evaluate whether similar mechanisms are operative in human liver, six cirrhotic and nine noncirrhotic patients undergoing right hepatectomy were randomized for utilization of hepatic vascular exclusion (HVE) as a model of ischemia‐reperfusion injury.

S Izumi, P G Langley, J Wendon, A J Ellis, R Pernambuco, R D Hughes, R Williams – 1 June 1996 – Data reported by Bernuau et al. have strongly supported the measurement of coagulation factor V as the best prognostic indicator in fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) and as the test on which selection for urgent liver transplantation should be made. In this study, we have measured plasma factor V in 110 patients with FHF, in grades I‐IV coma, in 88 of whom the etiology was acetaminophen overdose.

T Niki, D Schuppan, P J de Bleser, R Vrijsen, M Pipeleers‐Marichal, R Beyaert, E Wisse, A Geerts – 1 June 1996 – Glucocorticoids have been shown to suppress collagen synthesis and gene expression by fibroblasts. However, little is known about their effects on fat‐storing cells, the major matrix‐producing cells in liver fibrosis. In this study we investigated the effect of dexamethasone on the extracellular matrix expression by cultured rat fat‐storing cells.

D Rockey – 1 June 1996

D Ferro, C Quintarelli, A Lattuada, R Leo, M Alessandroni, P M Mannucci, F Violi – 1 June 1996 – The aim of this study was to evaluate whether there is endothelial dysfunction in patients with cirrhosis and to detect the mechanism that may account for it.

A Ihara, H Koizumi, R Hashizume, T Uchikoshi – 1 June 1996 – Expression of the cell adhesion molecule, epithelial cadherin (E‐CD) and its binding proteins, α‐ and β‐catenins, in normal liver, chronic liver diseases, and hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) was investigated immunohistologically. In normal liver, weak immunostaining of E‐CD and catenins was observed at the lateral membranes of the hepatocytes, whereas at the interlobular bile duct epithelia, they stained strongly. No immunoreactions were seen in sinusoidal Kupffer cells.

Y Mano, M Ishii, H Okamoto, T Igarashi, K Kobayashi, T Toyota – 1 June 1996 – Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α), which is primarily produced by macrophages, is a cytokine with various biological activities. Macrophage infiltration often accompanies experimental cholangitis in rats, and chronic cholangitis in humans. The pathophysiologic significance of TNF‐α in cholangitis is not known. We used cultured, polarized intrahepatic bile duct epithelial cells (IBDECs) from rat liver to determine whether TNF‐α directly affects the organization of IBDEC monolayers.

J W Gordon – 1 June 1996