David W. Crabb – 1 December 1992 – The human class I alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene family consists of ADH1, ADH2, and ADH3, which are sequentially activated in early fetal, late fetal, and postnatal liver, respectively. Analysis of ADH promoters revealed differential activation by several factors previously shown to control liver transcription. In cotransfection assays, the ADH1 promoter, but not the ADH2 or ADH3 promoter, was shown to respond to hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 (HNF‐1), which has previously been shown to regulate transcription in early liver development.

François Bissuel, Thierry Bizollon, Frédérique Dijoud, Paul Bouletreau, Jean François Cordier, Charles Chazot, Christian Gouillat, Christian Trepo – 1 December 1992 – We observed life‐threatening intrapulmonary hemorrhages and focal proliferative glomerulonephritis in a 41‐yr‐old woman with primary biliary cirrhosis. The severity of the symptoms necessitated blood transfusions and mechanical ventilation; the patient improved with the help of corticosteroid therapy. No formal evidence of either Goodpasture's syndrome or any other well‐defined systemic vasculitis could be found.

Masahiro Hamanoue, Kouichi Kawaida, Sonshin Takao, Hisaaki Shimazu, Sumihare Noji, Kunio Matsumoto, Toshikazu Nakamura – 1 December 1992 – Liver injuries induced by ischemia or physical trauma are characterized by noninflammatory damage frequently observed in a clinical setting. When the liver of rats was injured by ischemic treatment or physical crushing, necrotic tissue degeneration occurred in several sites of lobulus within 24 hr.

Ekapot Bhunchet, Kenjiro Wake – 1 December 1992 – The role of liver mesenchymal cell populations in porcine serum‐induced rat liver fibrosis were studied morphologically and immunohistochemically. Fiveweek‐old rats were intraperitoneally injected with porcine serum twice a week and examined at various intervals between 3 and 24 wk after the initial injection. At an early phase, numbers of fibroblasts and extracellular matrix increased in the walls of central veins and in portal and capsular connective tissues.

Nancy Bach, Henry C. Bodenheimer – 1 December 1992 – Serum samples from eight pregnant women and their offspring were studied by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA to evaluate mother‐to‐child transmission of this virus. The mothers were all infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); none showed symptoms of HCV infection. Anti‐HCV antibodies were tested for by recombinant immunoblot assay. HCV viral sequences were found in five of the mothers and four of eight children, three of them at birth.

Denis Devictor, Laurence Desplanques, Dominique Debray, Yves Ozier, Anne‐Marie Dubousset, Jacques Valayer, Didier Houssin, Olivier Bernard, Gilbert Huault – 1 November 1992 – We report our results with orthotopic liver transplantation in children with fulminant liver failure. Thirty‐five children with fulminant liver failure were evaluated for liver transplantation. The main causes of liver failure were viral hepatitis (54.2%), drug‐induced liver injury (14.2%) and Wilson's disease (11.4%).

Jens H. Henriksen, Flemming Bendtsen, Alexander L. Gerbes, Niels Juel Christensen, Helmer Ring‐Larsen, Thorkild I. A. Sørensen – 1 November 1992 – The estimated central blood volume (i.e., blood volume in the heart cavities, lungs and central arterial tree) was determined by multiplying cardiac output by circulatory mean transit time in 19 patients with cirrhosis and compared with sympathetic nervous activity and circulating level of atrial natriuretic factor. Arterial norepinephrine level, an index of overall sympathetic nervous activity (3.08 nmol/L in patients vs.

Anna Mae Diehl, Shi Qi Yang, Piera Cote, Gary S. Wand – 1 November 1992 – Evidence suggests that ethanol desensitizes hepatocytes to the trophic effects of hormones. Cyclic AMP–dependent signals are important regulators of intermediary metabolism, cellular proliferation and differentiation, and modulate liver growth during hepatic regeneration.

Lynne W. Elmore, Alphonse E. Sirica – 1 November 1992 – Furan rapidly induces in rat liver a unique, lobespecific pattern of development of intestinal metaplasia and associated cholangiofibrosis. To establish early cell‐precursor relationships in the genesis of this cholangiofibrosis, a time‐course study was conducted in which young adult male Fisher 344 rats received furan by gavage at a daily dose of 45 mg/kg body wt over a 32‐day treatment period.

Stuart I. Myers, Lori Bartula – 1 November 1992 – Microsomal prostanoid synthesis was compared in normal gallbladders removed during organ donation and inflamed gallbladders removed at cholecystectomy. Normal human gallbladder microsomes demonstrated low rates of conversion of [14C]arachidonic acid to total labeled prostanoids, which increased during 1 to 30 min of incubation. Normal human gallbladder microsomes converted labeled substrate to all primary prostaglandins without demonstration of a major product.