Yoshiyuki Kanazawa, Norio Hayashi, Eiji Mita, Tiancheng Li, Hideki Hagiwara, Akinori Kasahara, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Takenobu Kamada – 1 November 1994 – The quasispecies nature of hepatitis C virus genome distribution is most evident in hypervariable regions of the putative envelope 2 domain. Eight patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon‐α were studied as to heterogeneity of the hypervariable regions to clarify the implications of quasispecies.

Morio Yamada, Takashi Nishigami, Keiji Nakasho, Yukiyasu Nishimoto, Hideki Miyaji – 1 November 1994 – An increasing amount of evidence suggests that the sigma (σ) sites, putative targets for a variety of psychotomimetic and antipsychotic drugs, exist not only in the brain but also in various peripheral organs. However, there are many ambiguities as to their biological roles, subcellular distributions, endogenous ligands and so on. We therefore performed our study for clarification of some of these ambiguities.

Arieh Bomzon, Laurence M. Blendis – 1 November 1994

1 November 1994

Wajahat Z. Mehal, Wendy L. Gregory, Y‐M. Dennis Lo, Susan J. Cross, Kenneth A. Fleming, Margaret F. Bassendine, Oliver F. W. James, R. Duncan Campbell, Roger W. Chapman, William M. C. Rosenberg – 1 November 1994 – Primary biliary cirrhosis is a chronic cholestatic disease, thought to be immune‐mediated with genetic susceptibility encoded in the major histocompatibility complex. In northern Europeans, the best established associations are with HLA‐DR8 and the complement allele, C4B2.

Carlo De Bac, Tommaso Stroffolini, Giovanni B. Gaeta, Gloria Taliani, Giuseppe Giusti – 1 November 1994 – We designed a multicenter cross‐sectional study to evaluate the role of alcohol abuse, the hepatitis viruses and other pathogenic factors in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. A total of 1,829 consecutive cirrhosis patients, with or without HCC, was enrolled over 6 mo in 21 centers throughout Italy. The etiological categories and diagnostic criteria were preestablished.

Shuichi Kawakami, Hirohito Tsubouchi, Shiro Nakagawa, Shuichi Hirono, Naokatu Arakaki, Osamu Nakamura, Yasushi Daikuhara, Terukatsu Arima – 1 November 1994 – We examined hepatocyte growth factor–producing organs in normal and carbon tetrachloride–treated Japanese monkeys, a species more related to human beings than rats, by measuring hepatocyte growth factor protein and hepatocyte growth factor mRNA in various tissues.

Kunio Suzuki, Norio Hayashi, Yukinori Yamada, Harumasa Yoshihara, Yasuhide Miyamoto, Yoshiki Ito, Toshihumi Ito, Kazuhiro Katayama, Yutaka Sasaki, Akihiko Ito, Yutaka Kisida, Toru Kashiwagi, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Takenobu Kamada – 1 November 1994 – The c‐met protooncogene is a growth factor receptor with tyrosine kinase activity. Recently the hepatocyte growth factor was identified as the ligand for this receptor. Because the hepatocyte growth factor is a most potent mitogen in hepatocytes, possible involvement of c‐met expression in hepatocarcin genesis is suspected.

Antonio Francavilla, Brian I. Carr, Alessandro Azzarone, Lorenzo Polimeno, Ziqiu Wang, David H. Van Thiel, Vladimir Subbotin, John G. Prelich, Thomas E. Starzl – 1 November 1994 – Subcutaneous injections of hormone triiodothyronine in rats resulted in peak blood levels at 24 hr with return to baseline by 96 hr. The injections stimulated a liver regeneration response that resembled in timing and in magnitude of DNA synthesis (peak, 24 hr) that induced by 40% hepatic resection. The principal proliferation was of hepatocytes.

Masahide Oshita, Norio Hayashi, Akinori Kasahara, Hideki Hagiwara, Eiji Mita, Masafumi Naito, Kazuhiro Katayama, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Takenobu Kamada – 1 November 1994 – Hepatitis viruses and alcohol are major causes of liver disease. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of alcohol intake on the replication of hepatitis C virus and the efficacy of interferon therapy. Fiftythree patients who were histologically proved to have chronic hepatitis C were tested.