M. Sawkat Anwer – 1 June 1992 – The Ca2+ signal observed in individual fura‐2‐loaded hepatocytes stimulated with the α1‐adrenergic agonist phenylephrine consisted of a variable latency period, a rapid biphasic increase in the cytosolic free Ca2+, followed by a period of maintained elevated cytosolic Ca2+ (plateau phase) that depended on the continued presence of both agonist and external Ca2+, Microinjection of guanosine‐5′‐O‐(3‐thiophosphate) elicited a Ca2+ transient with the same basic features.

Jianye Xu, David Brown, Tim Harrison, Yue Lin, Geoffrey Dusheiko – 1 June 1992 – Precore defective HBV mutants may gradually prevail because of immune selection and explain spontaneous seroconversion from HBeAg to anti‐HBe in HBV carriers. We have analyzed whether the presence of precore HBV mutants is a determinant of responsiveness to interferon‐α therapy. Fifteen carriers (nine responders and six nonresponders)who were treated with interferon‐α were examined. Serum samples were collected before and after therapy.

Tsuneo Kitamura, Joseph Alroy, Zenaida Gatmaitan, Masayasu Inoue, Takashi Mikami, Peter Jansen, Irwin M. Arias – 1 June 1992 – Dubin‐Johnson patients, mutant Corriedale sheep and TR− and EHBR mutant rats have recessively inherited defective bile canalicular secretion of many nonbile acid organic anions. The human and ovine mutants have black livers and lysosomal pigment accumulation. The livers in TR− and EHBR mutant rats are not black, and sparse lysosomal pigment accumulation is seen.

Richard F. McGuire, D. Montgomery Bissell, Janet Boyles, F. Joseph Roll – 1 June 1992 – Open fenestrations are a conspicuous feature of sinusoidal endothelial cells and allow free movement of plasma into the space of Disse. In hepatic fibrosis, the number of fenestrations decreases as interstitial collagen increases in the liver, a change that correlates with deposition of extracellular matrix in the space of Disse.

Joaquin Palma, Humberto Reyes, Jose Ribalta, Joaquin Iglesias, Manuel C. Gonazalez, Ismael Hernandez, Celia Alvarez, Claudina Molina, Ana Maria Danitz – 1 June 1992 – The efficacy and safety of ursodeoxycholic acid in the treatment of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy was investigated in an open pilot study. Five patients received 1 gm/day of ursodeoxycholic acid during 20 days and another three patients received two identical periods of treatment separated by a 14‐day interval free of the drug.

Yorio Matsumoto, G. Alex Bishop, Geoffrey William McCaughan – 1 June 1992 – Dipeptidyl peptidase IV is a cell surface ectopeptidase with widespread tissue distribution. Recently it was shown to display extracellular matrix—binding properties; therefore its role in cirrhosis is of interest. The aim of this study was to use monoclonal antibodies directed against the human CD26 antigen (which has been shown to be dipeptidyl peptidase IV) to study the distribution of this molecule in normal human and cirrhotic liver.

James P. Corsetti, Barbara A. Way, Charles E. Sparks, Janet D. Sparks – 1 June 1992 – Hepatocyte autofluorescence represents a major problem in immunofluorescence studies with fluorescein conjugates because of significant spectral overlap. We describe a method for immunostaining hepatocytes with R‐phycoerythrin (a fluorochrome with minimal overlap with autofluorescence) with paraformaldehyde fixation and Triton X‐100 permeabilization for better antibody penetration.

M. H. A. Bemelmans, D. J. Gouma, J. W. Greve, W. A. Buurman – 1 June 1992 – The putative role of the cytokines interleukin‐6 and tumor necrosis factor in the pathophysiology of the complications and mortality after surgery in jaundiced patients was studied in a murine model. Cytokine serum levels were determined in mice with experimental biliary obstruction. As an indicator of the activation status of macrophages, cytokine release by mononuclear phagocytes obtained from such mice was assessed.

Akira Kaneko, Norio Hayashi, Hirohito Tsubouchi, Yuji Tanaka, Toshifumi Ito, Yutaka Sasaki, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Yasushi Daikuhara, Takenobu Kamada – 1 June 1992 – Human hepatocyte growth factor is a newly discovered substance that stimulates DNA synthesis in vitro. In this study, we examined intracellular Ca2+ movement as one of the second messengers for human hepatocyte growth factor in primary‐cultured hepatocytes. The addition of hHGF induced Ca2+ oscillation, but the frequency of oscillations varied from cell to cell.

Harold O. Conn – 1 June 1992