Keith D. Lindor, E. Rolland Dickson, Roberta A. Jorgensen, Monte L. Anderson, Russell H. Wiesner, Gregory J. Gores, Stephen M. Lange, Steven S. Rossi, Alan F. Hofmann, William P. Baldus – 1 October 1995 – Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and methotrexate (MTX) have both been proposed as treatments for patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). It has been suggested that a combination of the two drugs may offer advantages over either used separately. In this pilot study, we sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this combination for patients with PBC.

Albert D. Min, Henry C. Bodenheimer – 1 October 1995

Katsuya Shiraki, Koujirou Takase, Yukihiko Tameda, Minoru Hamada, Yoshitane Kosaka, Takeshi Nakano – 1 September 1995 – Levels of two types of lectin‐reactive alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP), designated AFP‐L3 and AFP‐P4+P5, were analyzed with Lens culinaris agglutinin A and AFP‐P4+P5 with erythroagglutinating phytohemagglutinin, respectively, in an attempt to determine the utility and significance of these macromolecules as early indicators of hepatocellular carcinoma during the periodic follow‐up of cirrhotic patients.

1 September 1995

Stephen D. Ryder, John Koskinas, Paolo M. Rizzi, Ian G. McFarlane, Bernard C. Portmann, Nikolai V. Naoumov, Roger Williams – 1 September 1995 – The risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in autoimmune hepatitis is low, even in patients with long‐standing cirrhosis. Because of the increasing recognition of an association of hepatitis C virus (HCV) with autoimmune hepatitis, at least in some geographical areas, and with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (hepatoma), we have examined eight cases (4 male, 4 female) who presented between 1985 and 1993 with hepatoma complicating autoimmune hepatitis.

Fin Stolze Larsen, Karsten Skovgaard Olsen, Ellen Ejlersen, Bent Adel Hansen, Olaf B. Paulson, Gitte Moos Knudsen – 1 September 1995 – Impairment of cerebral blood flow (CBF) autoregulation may have serious implications for patients with cirrhosis if arterial hypotension occurs during coma, anesthesia, bleeding, or sepsis. In this study, CBF autoregulation was investigated in patients with cirrhosis with no or mild encephalopathy. Ten patients (median age, 45 years; range, 30 to 61 years) and six healthy volunteers (median age, 30 years; range, 21 to 61 years) were included.

Ziqiu Wang, Meifang Wang, Frances Finn, Brian I. Carr – 1 September 1995 – A characteristic defect occurs in rat and human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resulting in a loss of function of the vitamin K‐dependent enzyme gamma‐glutamyl‐carboxylase in the tumor but not in the underlying liver. This causes the secretion of elevated levels of the immature or des‐gamma‐carboxylated form of prothrombin, which is used as a marker of HCC.

Károly Lapis, József Bocsi, Péter Lapis, Unnur P. Thorgeirsson – 1 September 1995 – Flow cytometric DNA analysis was carried out on diethylnitrosamine (DEN) induced primary hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) and lung metastases in monkeys. In analyzing one sample from each of 113 HCC cases, 76 (67.2%) were diploid and 37 (32.7%) aneuploid. When more samples were analyzed from the same tumorous liver, all of the 76 diploid cases maintained their pattern, whereas 5 (13.5%) of the aneuploid cases displayed both diploid and aneuploid DNA.

Satoshi Shakado, Shotaro Sakisaka, Kazunori Noguchi, Masao Yoshitake, Masaru Harada, Yoshihiro Mimura, Michio Sata, Kyuichi Tanikawa – 1 September 1995 – To determine the effects of extracellular matrices on the function and morphology of hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells, isolated rat hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells were cultured in three‐dimensional fashion on collagen gel containing various extracellular matrix components. Cells cultured on type I collagen gel with or without type IV collagen formed a cobblestone appearance on the surface of the gel.

Yuman Fong, Howard J. Federoff, Michael Brownlee, David Blumberg, Leslie H. Blumgart, Murray F. Brennan – 1 September 1995 – Retroviral vectors have been widely studied as vehicles for hepatocyte gene therapy, but they are limited by an inability to infect nondividing cells and the need for prolonged cell culture. Two replication deficient herpes simplex viral vectors (HSV) were constructed with the marker genes lac‐Z/β‐galactosidase (HSVlac) or human‐growth hormone (HSVhGH) to determine the efficiency of HSV gene transfer into adult human hepatocytes.