1 October 1994

Teresa L. Wright, Connie Combs, Michael Kim, Linda Ferrell, Peter Bacchetti, Nancy Ascher, John Roberts, Judith Wilber, Pat Sheridan, Mickey Urdea – 1 October 1994 – The aims of this pilot study were to evaluate the safety and efficacy of interferon‐α2b for treatment of hepatitis C virus infection in liver transplant recipients, to monitor changes in hepatitis C virus RNA levels with treatment and to determine pretreatment parameters predictive of a complete response.

Carlos E. Angueira, Shailesh C. Kadakia – 1 October 1994 – Large‐volume paracentesis is an accepted therapeutic modality for the treatment of tense ascites in patients with cirrhosis. Whereas the effects of large‐volume paracentesis on the cardiovascular system have been studied in great detail, the effects of tense ascites and large‐volume paracentesis on the respiratory system have undergone only limited evaluation. Most patients report symptomatic improvement in breathing after large‐volume paracentesis.

James R. Hully, Ling Chang, Ralph H. Schwall, H. Ramon Widmer, Timothy G. Terrell, Nancy A. Gillett – 1 October 1994 – Recombinant human activin A, a member of the transforming growth factor‐β superfamily, induced significant cell loss in rodent livers and in primary hepatocyte cultures. Histologically and biochemically the hepatocyte death was mediated by apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death. Male mice were treated with 200 or 500 μg recombinant human activin A/kg body wt/day for up to 3 days by means of a subcutaneously implanted minipump.

Albert D. Min – 1 October 1994

1 October 1994

Florence Wong, Denise Massie, Paul Hsu, Francis Dudley – 1 October 1994 – A total of 29 patients with well‐compensated alcoholic cirrhosis and 9 healthy control subjects of similar age and sex were studied to assess their response to a challenge of 2 L of normal saline infused over a 1 hr period. Patients with cirrhosis had an adequate effective arterial blood volume in the basal state as assessed by neurohumoral markers of vascular filling.

Makoto Hoshino, Tomihiro Hayakawa, Asamitsu Hirano, Yasutaka Kamiya, Takayuki Ohiwa, Akitaka Tanaka, Tomoyuki Kumai, Takanori Inagaki, Makoto Miyaji, Toshihiko Takeuchi – 1 October 1994 – We investigated bile flow and biliary excretion of bile acids in the Eisai hyperbilirubinemic rat, a Sprague‐Dawley mutant rat with conjugated hyperbilirubinemia, using both in vivo and in vitro models. In vivo bile flow was lower in Eisai hyperbilirubinemic rats than in the control rats before and after taurocholate was infused.

Masahide Oshita, Yoshiyuki Takei, Sunao Kawano, Taizo Hijioka, Eiji Masuda, Moritaka Goto, Yoshiya Nishimura, Hirotaka Nagai, Sadaharu Iio, Shingo Tsuji, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Takenobu Kamada – 1 October 1994 – The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of endogenous nitric oxide in ethanol‐induced perturbation of microcirculation and hepatic injury in perfused rat liver. Infusion of ethanol into the portal vein at 25 and 100 mmol/L increased portal pressure, which is an indicator of hepatic vasoconstriction, in a concentration‐dependent fashion.

F. Xavier González, Antoni Rimola, Luis Grande, Maria Antolin, Juan C. Garcia‐Valdecasas, Jose Fuster, Antonio M. Lacy, Esteban Cugat, Jose Visa, Joan Rodés – 1 September 1994 – To identify factors predictive of early postoperative graft function, we analyzed 54 variables—including easily available clinical and laboratory data prospectively obtained from organ donors, transplant recipients and surgical procedures in 168 consecutive liver transplantations.