Floriano Rosina, Cristina Pintus, Carlton Meschievitz, Mario Rizzetto – 1 June 1991 – To determine whether long‐term therapy with recombinant interferon‐α can improve the course of chronic delta hepatitis, 61 Italian patients with this disease were randomly assigned to receive either interferon‐α‐2b three times a week (5 MU/m2 for 4 mo and then 3 MU/m2 for another 8 mo) or no treatment. At the end of the 12‐mo study, all patients were followed‐up for 12 additional months.

Nobuyuki Enomoto, Shujiro Takase, Nobuo Takada, Akira Takada – 1 June 1991 – To clarify the pathogenetic role of acetaldehyde in the development of alcoholic liver disease, genotyping of aldehyde dehydrogenase‐2 genes was performed and the clinical features of the alcoholic liver disease patients with different genotypes were compared. Genotyping of aldehyde dehydrogenase‐2 was performed in 47 patients with alcoholic liver disease using the polymerase chain reaction and slot‐blot hybridization.

Takuya Ikeda, Yoichi Kurebayashi – 1 June 1991 – Acute massive hepatic injury was induced in rats by a monoclonal antibody against a rat liver–specific membrane antigen, and its histological characteristics were investigated. A single intravenous injection of murine ascites containing a monoclonal antibody produced numerous hemorrhagic foci of degenerated and necrotic liver cells predominantly in zones 1 (the periportal area) and 2 (the area of transition between the periportal zone and the perivenular zone) of the liver lobule within 10 min.

Sheri Zidenberg‐Cherr, Katherine L. Olin, Jesus Villanueva, Anna Tang, Stephen D. Phinney, Charles H. Halsted, Carl L. Keen – 1 June 1991 – In the miniature pig, ethanol consumption has been reported to induce alterations in hepatic antioxidant defense capacity, which could result in increased risk of peroxidative damage. However, ethanol may also induce changes in membrane fatty acid composition, which could reduce the risk of peroxidative damage.

James Yarbrough, Michael Cunningham, Hirofumi Yamanaka, Ronald Thurman, Mostafa Badr – 1 June 1991 – Liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy is accompanied by altered hepatic intermediary metabolism. Because the organochlorine compound mirex also causes liver cell growth, the purpose of this study was to investigate hepatic carbohydrate and oxygen metabolism in perfused livers from mirex‐treated rats and to localize cell proliferation in this model.

Janna C. Collins – 1 June 1991

S. Bresson‐Hadni, A. Franza, J. P. Miguet, D. A. Vuitton, D. Lenys, E. Monnet, G. Landecy, G. Paintaud, P. Rohmer, M. C. Becker, J. L. Christophe, G. Mantion, M. Gillet – 1 June 1991 – Between 1986 and 1989, orthotopic liver transplantations were performed in our unit for 17 patients with incurable alveolar echinococcosis. Ten patients had hilar involvement (group I), and seven patients had posterior localization (five of them had chronic Budd‐Chiari syndrome) (group II).

Lea‐Yea Chuang, Juei‐Hsiung Tsai, Yun‐Chi Yeh, Chun‐Chang Chang, Hsing‐Wu Yeh, Jinn‐Yuh Guh, Jung‐Fa Tsai – 1 June 1991 – To characterize epidermal growth factor–related transforming growth factors in the urine of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, gel filtration with Bio‐Gel P‐30 was performed in seven hepatocellular carcinoma patients and seven sex‐matched and age‐matched healthy controls. Distinct profiles of soft agar growth assay in the hepatocellular carcinoma patients and the normal controls were seen. Three peaks (A, B and C) in the urine were examined.

Preston F. Foster, Achyut Bhattacharyya, Howard N. Sankary, James Coleman, Marilyn Ashmann, James W. Williams – 1 June 1991 – Although it is known that eosinophils consistently infiltrate rejecting human liver allografts, their function is unknown. Infiltrating eosinophils can release a cytotoxic substance, eosinophil cationic protein. Furthermore, eosinophil cationic protein may be identified in biopsy specimens using immunoperoxidase staining of an eosinophil cationic protein‐specific monoclonal antibody.

Hervé Desmorat, Jean‐Pierre Vinel, Omar Lahlou, Bernard Pipy, Philippe Badia, Paul Cales, Jean‐Marc Combis, Marie‐Claude Souqual, Jean‐Pierre Pascal – 1 June 1991 – Molsidomine, a long‐acting vasodilator mainly used as an antianginal agent, was reported to decrease the portohepatic venous pressure gradient in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. This study investigated the effects of linsidomine, the active metabolite of molsidomine, on systemic and splanchnic hemodynamics in rats with CCI4‐induced cirrhosis using the microsphere technique.