Michael Sackmann, Juergen Pauletzki, Uelker Aydemir, Joseph Holl, Tilman Sauerbruch, Joerg Hasford, Gustav Paumgartner – 1 December 1991 – A prospective, double‐blind, randomized, single‐center study was conducted to compare ursodeoxycholic acid alone with the combination of ursodeoxycholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid for dissolution therapy of gallstone fragments after shock wave lithotripsy.

Arthur J. McCullough, Kevin D. Mullen, Satish C. Kalhan – 1 December 1991 – Using H2[18O] tracer isotope dilution and corrected bromide space as standard reference techniques, we determined total body water and extracellular water in cirrhotic patients with (four men and four women) and without (seven men and six women) ascites and compared them with a normal control group (eight men and six women). These results were then compared with calculations of total body and extracellular water determined by the bioelectrical impedance analysis technique.

Mette Rye Clausen, Per Brøbech Mortensen, Flemming Bendtsen – 1 December 1991 – Short‐chain fatty acids cause reversible coma in animals and may contribute to the pathogenesis of the hepatic coma in humans. The concentrations of short‐chain fatty acids in peripheral venous blood were significantly elevated in 15 patients with hepatic encephalopathy caused by cirrhosis (362 ± 83 μmol/L; mean ± S.E.M.) compared with 17 cirrhotic patients without encephalopathy (178 ± 57 μmol/L) and 11 normal individuals (60 ± 8 μmol/L).

Frederik Nevens, M. Pilar Pizcueta, Mercedes Fernández, Jaime Bosch, Joan Rodés – 1 December 1991 – Serotonergic mechanisms have recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of portal hypertension; this suggests that blockade of serotonin S2 receptors may be a new approach for the pharmacological therapy of portal hypertension.

Esteban Mezey, Joan Caballería, Mack C. Mitchell, Albert Parés, H. Franklin Herlong, Joan Rodés – 1 December 1991 – The effect of parenteral amino acid administration on nutritional state, liver function and mortality was assessed in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis. Twenty‐eight patients received 2 1/day of a solution of dextrose (65 gm/L) and amino acids (25.8 gm/L) for 1 mo, whereas 26 received only the dextrose solution. All patients were allowed to eat a standard hospital diet.

1 December 1991

Attilio Rigotti, Flavio Nervi – 1 December 1991 – Hepatic cholesterol metabolism was examined in 27 Swedish patients with cholesterol gallstone disease and in 13 patients free of gallstones operated for roentgenographically suspect polyps in the gallbladder. All 40 patients underwent cholecystectomy, and a liver biopsy and gallbladder bile were obtained at surgery. The cholesterol saturation of gallbladder bile was significantly higher in patients with gallstones compared to the gallstone‐free controls (131 ± 13 vs. 75 ± 5%, P < 0.001).

Amanda J. Thornton, John Ham, Steven L. Kunkel – 1 December 1991 – Communication circuits operating between activated monocytes/macrophages and adjacent hepatocytes in the liver effect important alterations in hepatocyte function. We demonstrate here that primary human hepatocytes and hepatoma cells are able to function as effector cells in the recruitment of inflammatory cells in hepatic disease and inflammatory states by synthesizing a neutrophil/lymphocyte chemotactic factor, interleukin‐8.

E. Anthony Jones – 1 December 1991

Paul C. Adams, Edward Lin, Kathryn R. Barber, Chris W. M. Grant – 1 December 1991 – The elimination of toxic metal ions metabolically accumulated by patients remains a difficult clinical problem and a target of drug development. DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) is a hydrophilic chelating agent with high affinity for divalent and trivalent metal ions including iron but with a limited ability to cross cell membranes for access to iron stores.