1 December 1992

Linda Ferrell, Teresa Wright, John Lake, John Roberts, Nancy Ascher – 1 December 1992 – In Japan, the presence of a large regenerative nodule within a cirrhotic liver, referred to as a macroregenerative nodule or adenomatous hyperplasia, is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma. These lesions, however, have received little attention outside of Japan. We examined 110 sequentially explanted cirrhotic livers for the presence of such nodules.

Shyh‐Chuan Jwo, Jen‐Hwey Chiu, Gar‐Yang Chau, Che‐Chuan Loong, Wing‐Yu Lui – 1 December 1992 – A total of 238 patients who received curative hepatic resections during the last 10 yr were observed to search for the risk factors linked to early tumor recurrence of human hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy. The results revealed that tumor size, tumor appearance and DNA ploidy were the factors in predicting tumor recurrence after resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Tomoki Furuya, Noriko Murase, Kenjiro Nakamura, Jacky Woo, Satoru Todo, Anthony J. Demetris, Thomas E. Starzl – 1 December 1992 – The effect on liver and heart allograft survival (ACI rats to Lewis rats) was studied after three methods of recipient presensitization and after different intervals between sensitization and transplantation. With comparable lymphocytotoxic antibody titers, liver allografts always survived longer than heart grafts. The titer, class and specificity of the antibodies varied with the method of sensitization.

Shinji Tanaka, Yasushi Toh, Hiroko Minagawa, Ryoichi Mori, Keizo Sugimachi, Yoichi Minamishima – 1 December 1992 – Human cytomegalovirus causes severe and often fatal infections in immunocompromised patients. After organ transplantation cytomegalovirus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is thought to be activated by alloreaction and to spread because of immunosuppression, and it may cause endogenous cytomegalovirus diseases. Patients with cirrhosis, one group of candidates for liver transplantation, often show various grades of immunosuppression before transplantation.

Christine Challen, John Lunec, William Warren, Jane Collier, Margaret F. Bassendine – 1 December 1992 – Human hepatocellular carcinomas from patients in Britain, an area of low prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma and low dietary exposure to aflatoxin B1, were analyzed for mutations in the p53 tumorsuppressor gene. Abnormalities in the p53 gene were detected in 2 of 19 hepatocellular carcinomas by polymerase chain reaction—single‐stranded conformation polymorphism.

Hiroshi Adachi, Shuichi Kaneko, Eiki Matsushita, Yutaka Inagaki, Masashi Unoura, Kenichi Kobayashi – 1 December 1992 – The natural history of chronic hepatitis B patients who spontaneously cleared serum HBsAg was investigated. A total of 351 patients with chronic hepatitis B were observed in our hospital for at least 3 yr. Seven of these patients became HBsAg negative during the follow‐up period. HBsAg disappeared within 6 mo (range = 11 to 169 days, mean = 70 days) after acute elevation of ALT.

Pierre Laurent‐Puig, Jean‐François Flejou, Monique Fabre, Pierre Bedossa, Jacques Belghiti, François Gayral, Dominique Franco – 1 November 1992 – Mutant p53 has been found in a wide variety of human malignancies including carcinomas of the lung, breast and colon.

Antonio Francavilla, Alessandro Azzarone, Guiseppe Carrieri, Carlo Scotti‐Fogueni, Qia‐Hua Zeng, Umberto Cillo, Kendrick Porter, Thomas E. Starzl – 1 November 1992 – Transforming growth factor‐β canceled the hepatocyte proliferation caused by transforming growth factor‐α when the two substances were mixed and administered through a disconnected central portal vein branch after creation of an Eck fistula.

Yoshihide Ishiki, Hiroo Ohnishi, Yasutoshi Muto, Kunio Matsumoto, Toshikazu Nakamura – 1 November 1992 – Hepatocyte growth factor, a potent mitogen for mature hepatocytes in vitro, seems to function as a hepatotrophic factor for liver regeneration. We examined the mitogenic effect of hepatocyte growth factor on mouse liver in vivo.