Ikko Higaki, Isao Matsui‐yuasa, Masanobu Terakura, Shuzo Otani, Hiroaki Kinoshita – 1 January 1993 – The effect of hepatocyte growth factor on ornithine decarboxylase activity was studied in primary cultured adult rat hepatocytes. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was increased 3 hr after the addition of hepatocyte growth factor and remained at a high level until 12 hr; thereafter it decreased, and it returned to the control level by 24 hr. Enzyme activity began to increase with 1 ng/ml hepatocyte growth factor and reached its maximum with 5 ng/ml hepatocyte growth factor.

David A. Brenner – 1 January 1993 – Since many lines of evidence suggest that expression of the transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) gene may be regulated post‐transcriptionally, we examined the effect of the 5′‐untranslated region (UTR) of this gene on TGF‐β1 expression. For this purpose, fragments of the 840‐nucleotide highly GC‐rich TGF‐β1 5′‐UTR were inserted into the 5′‐UTR of the structural gene for human growth hormone driven by the simian virus 40 early promoter.

Jin K. Kim, Sandra N. Summer, Randy L. Howard, Robert W. Schrier – 1 January 1993 – Impaired ability to excrete a water load occurs in a substantial number of patients with advanced cirrhosis and in animals with experimental cirrhosis. The nonosmotic stimulation of arginine vasopressin release from the pituitary has been implicated as an important factor in the abnormal water excretion in patients and animals with cirrhosis. In this study, arginine vasopressin hypothalamic gene expression was studied in cirrhotic rats.

Jorge J. Gumucio, W. Michael McDonnell, Michael R. Lucey – 1 January 1993 – Background. There is a high prevalence of liver disease among the recipients of organs from donors with antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV). We undertook a study to determine the frequency of persistent HCV infection, as indicated by the presence of HCV RNA, among both cadaveric organ donors positive for antibodies to HCV (anti‐HCV) and the recipients of organs from these donors.

1 January 1993

Mohammad Sultan Khuroo, Showkat Ali Zargar, Ghulam Nabi Yattoo, Mohammed Sultan Allai, Bashir Ahmad Khan, Mohammed Yousuf Dar, Mohammed Iqbal Boda, Gul Javid – 1 January 1993 – Oddi's sphincter motor activity was studied in 15 healthy subjects and 15 patients with recurrent pyogenic cholangitis. No significant difference was found in the common bile duct pressures, the Oddi's sphincter basal pressures or the amplitude, frequency and duration of phasic contractions between the controls and patients.

1 January 1993

Yutaka Aoyagi, Atsushi Saitoh, Yasufumi Suzuki, Kentarou Igarashi, Makoto Oguro, Tsuyoshi Yokota, Shigeki Mori, Takeshi Suda, Hitoshi Asakura, Mamoru Isemura – 1 January 1993 – We report here on three patients with cirrhosis for whom an early recognition of hepatocellular carcinoma was made possible by the measurement of the degree of fucosylation (fucosylation index) of α‐fetoprotein.

Tetsuhiro Kasai, Hisataka Moriwaki, Masataka Okuno, Satoshi Numaguchi, Nobuo Murakami, Mitsuru Seishima, Hiroo Ohnishi, Yoshihiro Shidoji, Yasutoshi Muto – 1 January 1993 – Effects of carbon tetrachloride treatment and portacaval shunt surgery on exogenous chylomicron retinyl ester clearance from rat plasma were analyzed assuming three‐compartment model kinetics. In rats with cirrhosis and in those with Eck fistulas, the relative pool size of compartment 2 decreased (0.20 and 0.36, respectively) compared with controls (0.82).

Vicente Valdivieso, Carmen Covarrubias, Freddy Siegel, Francisco Cruz – 1 January 1993 – Several recent reports have indicated an increased prevalence of gallstones in association with pregnancy. If these reports are true, the early puerperium should be a favorable time to detect the disease in its initial stages and follow its natural course. Accordingly, the gallbladder was examined by ultrasound in 980 women during the immediate postpartum period and in 150 nulliparous, age‐matched healthy volunteers.