Alexander L. Gerbes, Rochus Witthaut, Veit Gülberg, Gaétan Thibault, Manfred Bilzer, Dieter Jüngst – 1 September 1992 – Mesenteric, hepatic and splanchnic extraction of C‐terminal and N‐terminal atrial natriuretic factor was investigated in male Sprague‐Dawley rats. Plasma concentrations (mean ± S.E.M.) of C‐terminal atrial natriuretic factor were 55.0 ± 6.1 fmol/ml, 31.2 ± 4.0 fmol/ml and 23.5 ± 3.3 fmol/ml (n = 12) in the abdominal aorta, the portal vein and the hepatic vein, respectively.

Timothy R. Morgan, Charles L. Mendenhall – 1 September 1992 – This prospective study compared the effects of tube‐fed nutrition with those of a regular diet in alcoholic liver disease. The high prevalence of malnutrition in patients with alcoholic liver disease requires clarification of the benefits of aggressive nutritional support. Patients were randomly assigned a regular diet without or with tube‐fed supplementation, delivering 1.5 g/kg protein and 167 kJ/kg daily.

Francloise Lunel, Nisen Abuaf, Lionel Frangeul, Patrick Grippon, Michèle Perrin, Yann Le Coz, Dominique Valla, Eric Borotto, Anne‐Marie Yamamoto, Jean‐Marie Huraux, Pierre Opolon, Jean‐Claude Homberg – 1 September 1992 – Recent studies have shown that hepatitis C virus antibodies are present in a large proportion of patients with autoimmune hepatitis type 2. We have studied 83 patients with liver/kidney microsome antibody‐positive type 1 hepatitis.

Patrick N. Gilles, Deborah L. Guerrette, Richard J. Ulevitch, Robert D. Schreiber, Francis V. Chisari – 1 September 1992 – The role that inflammatory cytokines may play in the life cycle of the hepatitis B virus and in the pathogenesis of its associated liver disease has not been carefully delineated.

Steven M. Strasberg, Pierre‐Alain Clavien – 1 September 1992

Yvon Calmus, Jerome Guechot, Philippe Podevin, Marie‐Therese Bonnefis, Jacqueline Giboudeau, Raoul Poupon – 1 September 1992 – Cell‐mediated immunity and macrophage activity, especially that of Kupffer cells, are impaired during cholestasis. Some evidence exists that bile acids play a role in these immune defects. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of individual bile acids on immunity and to determine whether monocytes could be a target.

Peter W. J. Kowalski‐Saunders, Paul J. Winwood, Michael J. P. Arthur, Ralph Wright – 1 September 1992 – Decreased albumin synthesis by hepatocytes in liver injury is thought to occur in response to Kupffer cell–derived acute‐phase cytokines. In this study we used hepatocytes maintained in a differentiated phenotype, by culture on a laminin‐rich gel substratum (Engelbreth‐Holm‐Swarm matrix), to investigate the effects of Kupffer cell–conditioned medium and purified cytokines (interleukin‐1, interleukin‐6 and tumor necrosis factor–a) on albumin synthesis.

Oliviero Riggio, Manuela Merli, Livio Capocaccia, Massimo Caschera, Angelo Zullo, Giorgio Pinto, Eugenio Gaudio, Antonio Franchitto, Roberta Spagnoli, Elvira D'aquilino, Siro Seri, Renzo Moretti, Alfredo Cantafora – 1 September 1992 – Zinc deficiency is common in cirrhosis and may be involved in the alteration of ammonia metabolism. Rats with carbon tetrachloride–induced cirrhosis have high plasma ammonia and low serum and tissue zinc levels.

David H. Adams, Elizabeth Mainolfi, Patrizia Burra, James M. Neuberger, Reuben Ayres, Elwyn Elias, Robert Rothlein – 1 September 1992 – The leucocyte adhesion molecule intercellular adhesion molecule–1 is induced on bile ducts in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis and may be involved in targeting immune damage to these structures. It has recently been reported that, when activated, in vitro lymphocytes release a soluble form of intercellular adhesion molecule–1 that can also be detected in human serum.

Stefan Schwögler, Margarete Odenthal, Thomas Knittel, Karl‐Hermann Meyer zum Büschenfelde, Giuliano Ramadori – 1 September 1992 – During liver fibrogenesis, fat‐storing cells transform into myofibroblast‐like cells and produce increasing amounts of extracellular matrix proteins. Because fat‐storing cells produce α2‐macroglobulin, an important serine protease inhibitor (serpin), we investigated whether fat‐storing cells also synthesize C1‐esterase inhibitor, another important serpin.