Loren Laine – 1 August 1995

Paul A. Cahill, Cory Foster, Eileen M. Redmond, Cindy Gingalewski, Yuping Wu, James V. Sitzmann – 1 August 1995 – Portal hypertension (PHT) is characterized by splanchnic hyperemia caused by a reduction in mesenteric vascular resistance. Mediators of this hyperemia include nitric oxide (NO). This is based on several reports indicating a marked splanchnic hyporesponsiveness in PHT to vasoconstrictor stimuli, both in vitro and in vivo, and a subsequent reversal using specific inhibitors of NO synthase (NOS).

Ramon Estruch, Joaquim Fernández‐Solá, Emilio Sacanella, Carles Paré, Emanuel Rubin, Alvaro Urbano‐Márquez – 1 August 1995 – Based on anecdotal impressions, there is a common clinical perception that alcoholics with liver disease do not develop cardiomyopathy and that those with alcohol‐induced cardiac disease are spared cirrhosis.

Tomas Sveger, Sten Eriksson – 1 August 1995 – Of 200,000 Swedish infants screened for α1‐antitrypsin deficiency (α1ATD), 184 (127 PiZ, 2 PiZ–, 54 PiSZ, and 1 PiS–) children have been followed prospectively, of whom 1 PiSZ and 5 PiZ children died in early childhood. We now report clinical and biochemical signs of liver disease in adolescence and the prognosis of neonatal liver disease up to the age of 18 years. The α1ATD subjects were offered a clinical checkup and liver tests at 16 and 18 years of age, 150 of 178 α1ATD subjects undergoing checkups at age 16 and 166 at age 18.

1 August 1995

Jane M. Geders, Salima Haque, Raymond J. Tesi, Michael A. Gerber, Anna S. F. Lok – 1 August 1995

Stephan Krähenbühl, Christine Talos, Bernhard H. Lauterburg, Jürg Reichen – 1 August 1995 – Lipid peroxidation and antioxidative mechanisms were investigated in liver mitochondria from bile duct ligated rats (BDL rats) and correlated with the activity of enzyme complexes of the electron transport chain. In comparison to pair‐fed control rats, BDL rats had increased concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS) per gram of liver and per milligram of mitochondrial protein 3, 7, 14, and 28 days after surgery.

Antonio González, Juan I. Esteban, Pedro Madoz, Luis Viladomiu, Juan Genesca, Eduardo Muñiz, Jaime Enríquez, Xavier Torras, José M. Hernández, Josep Quer, Xavier Vidal, Harvey J. Alter, James W. Shih, Rafael Esteban, Jaime Guardia – 1 August 1995 – Routine screening of blood donors for anti‐hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been implemented in most developed countries. However, the independent efficacy of such screening has not been established in a controlled, prospective study.

Takeaki Suou, Keiko Hosho, Yukihiro Kishimoto, Yasushi Horie, Hironaka Kawasaki – 1 August 1995 – To evaluate the effect of interferon alfa (IFN‐α) on the hepatic extracellular matrix, we investigated the changes in serum N‐terminal propeptide of type III procollagen during and after 4 months of INF‐α treatment in 178 treated and 45 nontreated patients with chronic hepatitis C. Serum pretreatment levels in nonresponders were significantly higher than those in long‐term and short‐term responders, but those levels were not different in the latter two groups.

Michiko Shindo, Ken Arai, Yoshihiro Sokawa, Tadao Okuno – 1 August 1995 – We investigated anti‐hepatitis C virus (HCV) titers, HCV RNA levels in liver and serum, genetic variability in the hypervariable region of the genome, the form of the virus in the circulation, and liver histology in 21 anti‐HCV‐positive subjects with sustained normal liver biochemical values. Titer of anti‐HCV was determined by second generation anti‐HCV‐passive hemagglutination assay, and HCV RNA levels were semiquantitated by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR).