Samy A. Azer, Michael Murray, Geoffrey C. Farrell, Neill H. Stacey – 1 November 1993 – Because some patients with cirrhosis have serum transaminase levels within the normal range, a prospective study was undertaken to determine whether the concentration of individual serum bile acids would be a sensitive indicator of development of cirrhosis. The choline‐deficient rat has been used as a model for study of these changes. Using high‐performance liquid chromatography, we measured the concentrations of individual serum bile acids at 3, 6, 10, 20 and 30 wk of dietary intake.

Franziska Oberhammer, Wilfried Bursch, Roman Tiefenbacher, Gertraud Fröschl, Margit Pavelka, Tonio Purchio, Rolf Schulte‐Hermann – 1 November 1993 – In previous studies we showed that transforming growth factor‐β1 induces apoptosis in hepatocyte cultures and regressing livers, the mature form being more potent than the transforming growth factor‐β1 latency‐associated protein. In this study we addressed the question of whether apoptosis can be induced within a short time after administration of transforming growth factor‐β1.

Xiaoli Ma, Enrique Baraona, Charles S. Lieber – 1 November 1993 – Because ethanol inhibits mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, with substantial accumulation of fatty acids in the livers of female (but not male) rats, and induces microsomal activities, we assessed possible changes in ω‐oxidation. To study this, we pair‐fed 24 male and 24 female littermate rats of the same age liquid diets containing 36% of energy either as ethanol or as additional carbohydrate for 4 wk. In controls, the microsomal ω‐hydroxylation of lauric acid was 28% greater in female than in male rats (p < 0.05).

1 November 1993

Mieko Matsui, Minoru Nakamura, Hiromi Ishibashi, Kichiko Koike, Jiro Kudo, Yoshiyuki Niho – 1 November 1993 – Peripheral B lymphocytes from a patient with primary biliary cirrhosis were infected with Epstein‐Barr virus, and Epstein‐Barr virus–transformed B lymphocytes producing large amounts of IgG antibodies to pyruvate dehydrogenase complex were selected, expanded and fused with the human‐mouse heteromyeloma cell line F3B6.

Carlos Guarner, German Soriano, Albert Tomas, Oriol Bulbena, Maria Teresa Novella, Joaquin Balanzo, Francisco Vilardell, Marisabel Mourelle, Salvador Moncada – 1 November 1993 – Nitric oxide derived from vascular endothelium is a potent vasodilator that plays a key role in the homeostasis of blood pressure. Because cirrhotic patients tend to have low arterial pressure, we measured in 51 patients and 10 control subjects serum nitrite and nitrate levels as an index of in vivo nitric oxide generation.

Wing‐Yiu Lui, Fang‐Ku P'Eng, Yuh‐Fang Chang, Tai‐Jay Chang, Ting‐Fan Tsai, Mei‐Ling Hsu, Tsung‐Sheng Su, Shyh‐Haw Tsay, Chew‐Wun Wu, Tsung‐Yun Liu, Chin‐Wen Chi – 1 November 1993 – Hepatocellular carcinoma is the leading cause of male cancer death in Taiwan. We have found that the level of glucocorticoid receptor in hepatocellular carcinoma is significantly higher than that in the peritumoral tissue.

Johnson Y. N. Lau, Gary L. Davis, Mathew E. Brunson, Ke‐Ping Qian, Hsiang‐Ju Lin, Stella Quan, Robert Dinello, Alan J. Polito, Juan C.

Beatriz Gil, Cheng Qian, Jose I. Riezu‐Boj, Maria P. Civeira, Jesús Prieto – 1 November 1993 – We investigated the presence of positive (genomic) and negative (replicative intermediate) hepatitis C virus RNA strands in liver, peripheral mononuclear cells and serum from patients with chronic hepatitis C using a selective and semiquantitative polymerase chain reaction procedure. Negative and positive hepatitis C virus RNA strands were present in liver, serum and lymphoid cells in all untreated patients and in all those who did not respond to interferon therapy.

Christine Egenhofer, Kathrin Alsdorff, Karin Fehsel, Victoria Kolb‐Bachofen – 1 November 1993 – We could recently show that rat liver macrophages (Kupffer cells) express a membrane‐bound form of C‐reactive protein on their surface. Because it is removed by washing the cells in buffers containing Ca++‐chelators, membrane‐bound C‐reactive protein is a peripheral protein rather than an integral part of the Kupffer cell membrane. This Kupffer cell membrane‐bound C‐reactive protein is identical to the galactose‐specific particle receptor previously characterized.