Induced expression of heat‐shock protein on biliary epithelium in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis

Ulrika Broomé, Annika Scheynius, Rolf Hultcrantz – 1 August 1993 – In both primary sclerosing cholangitis and primary biliary cirrhosis it is supposed that immunological mechanisms are involved in the progressive destruction of the bile ducts. The aberrant expression of human leukocyte antigen‐DR in the bile ducts of patients with these disorders enables the biliary epithelium to present putative antigens to the surrounding lymphocytes; however, no such antigen has been identified. Heat‐shock proteins have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various immunological destructive disorders.

Levamisole and interferon in children with chronic hepatitis B

Mercedes Ruiz‐Moreno, Rosa García, Maria Jose Rua, Beatriz Serrano, Gloria Moraleda, Esperanza Feijoo, Javier Bartolomé, Fernando Ortiz, Inmaculada Castill, Vicente Carreñ – 1 August 1993 – To evaluate the possible usefulness of simultaneous administration of levamisole and interferon, we randomly allocated 38 children with chronic hepatitis B to receive either 10 MU/m2 interferon‐α‐2a, three times a week for 6 mo (group 1, n = 20) or 90 mg/m2 of levamisole for 45 days, together with 10 MU/m2 of interferon‐α‐2a, three times a week for 6 mo (group 2, n = 18).

Is microsomal triglyceride transfer protein the missing link in abetalipoproteinemia?

Robert L. Hamilton, Richard J. Havel – 1 August 1993 – In the study reported by Wetterau et al., a recently characterized heterodimeric protein called microsomal triglyceride transfer protein was undetectable on immunoblotting of samples from intestinal biopsies of human subjects with the genetic disorder abetalipoproteinemia. With only one fourth to one fifth the soluble proteins of homogenized intestinal biopsy specimens of normal human subjects and patients with different fat‐absorption defects, the 88‐kD subunit of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein was clearly detectable.

Tubulovesicular transcytotic pathway in rat biliary epithelium: A study in perfused liver and in isolated intrahepatic bile duct

Antonio Benedetti, Luca Marucci, Cristina Bassotti, Raniero Mancini, Susanna Contucci, Anne Marie Jezequel, Francesco Orland – 1 August 1993 – Morphometric ultrastructural analysis of horseradish peroxidase–containing structures has been performed in vivo, in rat liver and, in vitro, in isolated bile ducts to determine whether a transcytotic vesicle pathway exists in biliary epithelial cells. In vivo, horseradish peroxidase (100 mg/kg body wt) was given by intraportal injection in normal rats (n = 15) or 1 hr after administration of 600 mg/kg valproic acid (n = 15).

Effect of propylthiouracil on the ethanol‐induced increase in liver oxygen consumption in awake rats

Frederick J. Carmichael, Hector Orrego, Victor Saldivia, Yedy Israel – 1 August 1993 – It has been postulated that the beneficial effects of the antithyroid drug propylthiouracil in the treatment of alcoholic liver disease depend primarily on the action of propylthiouracil in suppressing the increase in hepatic oxygen consumption induced by ethanol. The evidence for this effect of propylthiouracil is derived from studies in which liver oxygen consumption has been determined in in vitro preparations.

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