Harvey J. Alter, James W.‐K. Shih – 1 June 1993 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has not yet been cultured or visualized. We attempted to recover HCV‐associated particles from plasma of infected humans to assess the natural properties of the virus. Starting with 720 ml of donor plasma containing high titer of HCV core antigen ELISA activities, we identified HCV core antigen activity and viral RNA enriched in a potassium bromide density gradient fraction with a density of 1.115 g/ml.

Norman L. Sussman, James H. Kelly – 1 June 1993 – We have developed a novel hepatocyte loaded hollow fiber bioreactor as a potential bioartificial liver. Freshly harvested rat hepatocytes were entrapped in a three‐dimensional gel matrix within hollow fibers in a perfused bioreactor. Gel entrapment allowed cells to be cultured at high density while maintaining tissuespecific function. Hepatocyte function was evaluated in 10 bioreactors, each containing approximately 5 x 107 cells.

Ralph M. Steinman, Kayo Inaba, Jonathan M. Austyn – 1 June 1993

Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Agustin Albillos, G. E. Barden, A. Brian West – 1 June 1993 – Patients with cirrhosis are predisposed to develop spontaneous bacteremias and peritonitis, mainly by enteric bacteria. Portal hypertension, by producing congestion and edema of the bowel wall, could increase the passage of bacteria from the intestinal lumen to regional lymph nodes to the systemic circulation or to both, a process termed bacterial translocation.

Mark Johnson, George Koukoulis, Kunio Matsumoto, Toshikazu Nakamura, Anand Iyer – 1 June 1993 – Hepatocyte growth factor is the most potent mitogen known for hepatocytes, and increasing evidence suggests that hepatocyte growth factor plays an important role in liver regeneration. However, hepatocytes are not the only liver epithelial cell population that proliferates during regeneration. Experimental and clinical data indicate that the regenerative liver response also includes the participation of nonparenchymal epithelial cells.

1 June 1993

John W. Wiley – 1 June 1993 – The incubation of primary cultures of rat hepatocytes with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or biologically active phorbol esters promotes the release of nitric oxide to the incubation medium. This process is the result of the induction of the Ca2+‐ and calmodulinindependent form of nitric oxide synthase. Both the release of nitric oxide to the incubation medium and the expression of nitric oxide synthase activity exhibited a lag period of about 45–60 min after cell stimulation.

Tetsuo Ohta, Takukazu Nagakawa, Yutaka Yoshimitsu, Hiromi Sanada, Luis Fonseca, Itsuo Miyazaki, Tadashi Terada – 1 June 1993 – We studied the effects of the oral administration of a stable prostaglandin E2 analog, 16,16‐dimethyl prostaglandin E2, on the intrahepatic biliary branches in a canine model. Obstructive cholestasis with a bacterial infection was induced surgically in two liver lobes in healthy mongrel dogs, and 16,16‐dimethyl prostaglandin E2 was administered orally.

John Koskinas, Vivienne R. Winrow, George L. A. Bird, Johnson Y. N. Lau, Bernard C. Portmann, David R. Blake, Graeme J. M. Alexander, Roger Williams – 1 June 1993 – The precise mechanism of the pathogenesis of alcoholic hepatitis is unknown, but immune involvement may perpetuate and exacerbate the process. Heatshock proteins, normally protective, may be immunogenic and have been shown to induce antibody formation in some inflammatory conditions. Alcohol, cellular hypoxia and tumor necrosis factor, all involved in alcoholic hepatitis, are potent inducers of heatshock protein.

Peter Donaldson, James Underhill, Derek Doherty, Karen Hayllar, Roy Calne, Kai‐Chah Tan, John O'Grady, Derek Wight, Bernard Portmann, Roger Williams – 1 June 1993 – To date only one published large series of human leukocyte antigen matching and liver allograft survival exists, and considerable confusion has arisen about the advantage or disadvantage of human leukocyte antigen matching.