George Bird, Johnson Y. N. Lau, John Koskinas, Claire Wicks, Roger Williams – 1 December 1991 – In a randomized, controlled trial to investigate the possible benefit of insulin and glucagon therapy in severe acute alcoholic hepatitis, 86 patients were randomized to receive 30 U insulin and 3 mg glucagon in 250 ml 5% dextrose over 12 hr each day for 3 wk or a similar regime of identical placebo. No significant differences were seen in patients' clinical characteristics and disease severity in the treated and placebo groups.

Stephan Krahenbuhl, Fred L. Weber, Eric P. Brass – 1 December 1991 – Glucose homeostasis and fatty acid metabolism are abnormal in patients with cirrhosis. To assess the metabolic response to starvation in an animal model of cirrhosis, glycogen and fuel metabolism were characterized in rats with CCl4‐induced cirrhosis studied 2 wk after 10 weekly doses of CCl4. Plasma concentrations of glucose and β‐hydroxybutyrate were not different between fed CCl4‐treated and control rats, but plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations were higher in cirrhotic animals (0.25 ± 0.01 vs.

Luis Viola, Eduardo Pimentel, Pedro Morgante, José Luis Fernández, Albert Parés, Josep Marí Barrera, Joan Caballería, Guadalupe Ercilla, Miquel Bruguera, Llorencl Caballería, Ricardo Castillo, Joan Rodés – 1 December 1991

Takashi Inamoto, William R. Brown – 1 December 1991 – Various pathophysiological relationships between IgA and the asialoglycoprotein receptor on hepatocytes have been proposed. As a step toward defining these relationships, we purified the receptor from human livers by means of p‐aminophenyl β‐D‐thiogalactopyranoside‐agarose affinity chromatography. Unexpectedly, we found the asialoglycoprotein receptor to be associated specifically with IgG.

Hiroaki Iwamoto, Shigeru Sakamoto, Hajime Nawata – 1 December 1991 – The effect of serum from patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma on the release of prostaglandin E2 by the human histiocytic lymphoma cell line U937 was investigated to explain the mechanism underlying the immunoregulatory dysfunction of monocytes in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Shuhei Nishiguchi, Tetsuo Kuroki, Tsuneo Yabusako, Shuichi Seki, Kenzo Kobayashi, Takeyuki Monna, Shuzo Otani, Masami Sakurai, Toshio Shikata, Sukeo Yamamoto – 1 December 1991 – The relationship between alcoholic liver disease and hepatitis C virus was studied in 80 patients by searching for hepatitis C virus RNA with the polymerase chain reaction and by measuring hepatitis C virus antibodies.

Peter K. Mays, Robin McAnulty, Geoffrey J. Laurent – 1 December 1991 – Liver collagen levels are determined by a balance between synthesis and degradation, processes known to have rapid rates in growing animals. We report age‐related changes in liver collagen synthesis and degradation rates, as well as protein synthesis rates, in rats at five ages from 1 to 24 mo. Fractional collagen synthesis rates were determined after injection of [14C]proline with a flooding dose of unlabeled proline and its incorporation as hydroxy‐[14C]proline into proteins.

Roger L. Martin, Kenneth F. Ilett, Rodney F. Minchin – 1 December 1991 – Previous studies in which investigators have induced the rate of polyamine uptake in vitro have used either inhibitors of polyamine biosynthesis or growth factors that induce cell proliferation. Recently, however, we have described the induction of putrescine uptake in cultured adult mouse hepatocytes and have shown that uptake is independent of both intracellular polyamine levels and proliferation.

Peter A. Burke – 1 December 1991

Petra Steindl, Andreas Püspök, Wilfred Druml, Peter Ferenci – 1 December 1991 – Hepatic encephalopathy is ameliorated by drugs acting on the central GABAA‐benzodiazepine receptor complex.