Miquel Bruguera, Josep Llach, Joan Rodés – 1 May 1992 – Eleven patients with chronic intrahepatic cholestasis in whom a liver biopsy specimen showed unexplained bile duct paucity were investigated. Cholestasis developed during the neonatal period in three, at infancy (before 14 yr) in four and after 14 yr in the remaining four patients. In all patients other conditions characterized by chronic cholestasis associated with ductopenia such as primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, drug‐induced liver disease, sarcoidosis or graft‐vs.‐host disease were excluded.

Gilles Pomier‐Layrargues, Lise Giroux, Bernard Rocheleau, Pierre‐Michel Huet – 1 May 1992 – We recently reported that ritanserin, a 5‐hydroxytryptamine receptor antagonist, induced significant reduction of portal pressure in cirrhotic rats. In this study, we investigated the hemodynamic effects of a combination of propranolol and ritanserin in conscious and unrestrained cirrhotic rats. Heparinized catheters exiting from the neck were placed into the portal vein, inferior vena cava, aorta and left ventricle.

Peter van Eyken, Albert Geerts, Pieter de Bleser, Jean‐Marc Lazou, Raf Vrijsen, Raf Sciot, Eddie Wisse, Valeer J. Desmet – 1 May 1992 – The distribution and the cellular source of the novel extracellular matrix glycoprotein tenascin were studied in normal and fibrotic rat liver. Cryostat sections of normal rat livers, livers of rats treated with intraperitoneal injections of CCl4 and 4‐day‐old and 8‐day‐old primary fat‐storing cell cultures were stained for tenascin and desmin using an immunoperoxidase procedure or a double‐label immunofluorescence technique.

Anna Mae Diehl – 1 May 1992

Kazuhiko Hosoda, Masao Omata, Osamu Yokosuka, Naoya Kato, Masao Ohto – 1 May 1992 – To study the role of hepatitis C virus in non‐A, non‐B chronic hepatitis, 49 liver biopsy samples from 40 patients with non‐A, non‐B chronic hepatitis and 9 control patients were analyzed by complementary DNA/polymerase chain reaction. Two segments of the HCV genome, one in the nonstructural region and the other in the noncoding region, were amplified by two sets of primer pairs.

Bradford G. Stone, Howard J. Ansel, Francis J. Peterson, Roger L. Gebhard – 1 May 1992 – Gallbladder stasis may be an important factor in the pathogenesis of cholesterol‐gallstone formation in some individuals. We investigated gallbladder function in a group of nondieting, gallstone‐free, healthy subjects with normal (22 ± 1 kg/m2) and high (36 ± 1 kg/m2) body mass indexes.

Maria Anna Leo, Cho‐Il Kim, Nancy Lowe, Charles S. Lieber – 1 May 1992 – Because we had found that ethanol interacts with retinol, we investigated whether it also affects its precursor, β‐carotene. In 14 baboons fed ethanol (50% of total energy) for 2 to 5 yr with a standard amount of β‐carotene (one 200‐gm carrot/day), levels of β‐carotene were much higher than in controls fed isocaloric carbohydrate, both in plasma (122.5 ± 30.9 nmol/dl vs. 6.3 ± 1.4 nmol/dl; p < 0.005) and in liver (7.9 ± 1.1 nmol/gm vs. 1.8 ± 0.5 nmol/gm; p < 0.001).

Daniel J. Smith – 1 May 1992 – The secretion of bile by the liver is primarily determined by the ability of the hepatocyte to transport bile acids into the bile canaliculus. A carrier‐mediated process for the transport of taurocholate, the major bile acid in humans and rats, was previously demonstrated in canalicular membrane vesicles from rat liver. This process is driven by an outside‐positive membrane potential that is, however, insufficient to explain the large bile acid concentration gradient between the hepatocyte and bile.

Jeffrey S. Crippin, Kieth D. Lindor, Roberta Jorgensen, Bruce A. Kottke, Jay M. Harrison, Paul A. Murtaugh, E. Rolland Dickson – 1 May 1992 – Hypercholesterolemia is commonly associated with primary biliary cirrhosis. In the general population, elevated serum cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis. The relative risk has been poorly defined in primary biliary cirrhosis patients with hyperlipidemia. In addition, the hyperlipidemic state seen with primary biliary cirrhosis has not been well studied.

Antonio Francavilla, Brian I. Carr, Thomas E. Starzl, Alessandro Azzarone, Giuseppe Carrieri, Qui‐Hua Zeng – 1 May 1992 – Rapamycin, a potent immunosuppressive drug that disrupts normal signal‐transduction processes, inhibited hepatocyte proliferation without evidence of inherent cytotoxicity in rat hepatocytes cultured in conventional medium or in a medium enriched with epidermal growth factor. The antiproliferative effect was dose dependent, uninfluenced by the concentration of epidermal growth factor in the medium and long lasting after a brief exposure.