Biliary Copper Excretion in Acutely and Chronically Copper‐loaded Rats

Masaru Harada, Shotaro Sakisaka, Masao Yoshitake, Satoshi Shakadoh, Kazuhisa Gondoh, Michio Sata, Kyuichi Tanikawa – 1 January 1993 – Biliary copper excretion was examined in rats with acute, continuous and chronic copper loads. Copper was excreted into bile, and the concentration peaked 40 min after a venous injection of copper sulfate (127 ng/gm body weight). The excretion was significantly inhibited by colchicine. Therefore some copper may be transported in hepatocytes by a vesicular pathway and excreted into bile.

Transmission of hepatitis C: Sexual, vertical or exclusively blood‐borne?

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.

Role of mesenchymal cell populations in porcine serum‐induced rat liver fibrosis

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.

Rapid and marked induction of hepatocyte growth factor during liver regeneration after ischemic or crush injury

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.

Pulmonary hemorrhage and glomerulonephritis in primary biliary cirrhosis

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.

ADH1, 2 and 3: genes whose times have come

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.

Increase of cytokeratin D during liver regeneration: Association with the nuclear matrix

Ricardo Bastos, Pablo Engel, Cristina Pujades, Rocco Falchetto, Rosa Aligué, Oriol Bachs – 1 December 1992 – An increase of a 45 kD protein (p45) in the nuclear matrix has been observed when rat liver cells were proliferatively activated in vivo by a partial hepatectomy. The maximal levels of the association of p45 with the nuclear matrix have been detected 24 hr after hepatectomy just at the time when DNA replication is also maximal. By amino acid sequence analysis, immunoblotting and immunocytochemical methods, it has been demonstrated that p45 is identical to rat cytokeratin D.

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