Nancy Rolando, Alexander Gimson, Jim Wade, John Philpott‐Howard, Mark Casewell, Roger Williams – 1 February 1993 – To compare the efficacy of a selective parenteral and enteral antimicrobial regimen in patients with fulminant liver failure, we classified 104 patients on reaching grade II encephalopathy as infected or noninfected. Patients who were infected were randomly assigned to receive IV cefuroxime (group 1) or selective parenteral and enteral antimicrobial regimen (group 2).

John A. Hermos – 1 February 1993

Piotr Zimniak, Yogesh C. Awasthi – 1 February 1993

Delai Zhao, Arthur Zimmermann, Anthony M. Wheatley – 1 February 1993 – Two models of orthotopic liver transplantation in the rat currently used are with and without reconstruction of the hepatic artery. The aim of this study was to assess the importance of the arterial blood supply to liver structure after orthotopic liver transplantation with advanced morphometric methods. Orthotopic liver transplantation was performed in male Lewis rats, of which 11 underwent reconstruction of the hepatic artery and 11 did not.

Ion V. Deaciuc, Gregory J. Bagby, Charles H. Lang, John J. Spitzer – 1 February 1993 – Previous studies indicate that sinusoidal endothelial cells bind and internalize hyaluronic acid at much greater rates than do other liver cells. Thus hepatic hyaluronic acid removal rate may be indicative of sinusoidal endothelial cell function. In these studies the uptake of hyaluronic acid (molecular weight 1.3 × 106) was measured in isolated perfused rat liver under a variety of conditions. Uptake was dependent on hyaluronic acid concentration.

Philip I. Craig, Michael Tapner, Geoffrey C. Farrell – 1 February 1993 – Interferon down‐regulates expression of cytochrome P‐450 3A in male rats. This study explored the hypothesis that interferon therefore decreases the metabolism of drugs catalyzed by cytochrome P‐450 3A. Initial experiments in male rats used microsomal erythromycin N‐demethylase activity as a probe for cytochrome P‐450 3A catalytic activity. After administration of rat interferon‐γ, erythromycin metabolism was impaired (53% of control; p < 0.01).

Jacek Rozga, Frederick Williams, Man‐Soo Ro, Daniel F. Neuzil, Todd D. Giorgio, Gisela Backfisch, Albert D. Moscioni, Raymond Hakim, Achilles A. Demetriou – 1 February 1993 – We have developed a bioartificial liver support system utilizing hollow‐fiber bioreactor, plasmapheresis and microcarrier cell culture technologies. Liver cells were obtained through portal vein perfusion with ethylenediaminetetraacetate or ethylenediaminetetraacetate/collagenase.

Lawrence Serfaty, Philippe Giral, Marie Hélène Elghouzzi, Anne Marie Jullien, Raoul Poupon – 1 February 1993 – Studies of blood donors positive for antibody to hepatitis C virus on enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay are probably biased by the large number of false‐positive results.

1 February 1993

David A. Brenner, Linda Veloz, Rudolf Jaenisch, Joseph M. Alcorn – 1 February 1993 – Cirrhosis is characterized by a marked increase in the deposition of type I collagen and in the expression of the type I collagen genes α1(I) and α2(I). Although α1(I) gene regulation has been extensively studied in cultured cells, these results may not be applicable to hepatic fibrogenesis in vivo.