Mary F. Chan, John R. Lake – 1 June 1991 – Relatively hydrophobic bile acids have been shown to produce some hepatotoxicity, whereas treatment with a more hydrophilic bile acid, ursodeoxycholic acid, has improved liver function indices in patients with certain chronic liver diseases. Taurine‐conjugated bile acids are more hydrophilic than glycine‐conjugated bile acids, and thus, taurine administration has also been suggested for the treatment of chronic hepatitis.

Elizabeth M. Brunt, Heather White, J. Wallis Marsh, Barbel Holtmann, Marion G. Peters – 1 June 1991 – A previously healthy but obese 26‐yr‐old woman was diagnosed as having hepatic dysfunction 17 days after the third of three consecutive exposures to isoflurane anesthesia for paranasal sinus surgery. Serum laboratory findings included elevated aminotransferases and bilirubin. Radiographical evaluations showed no evidence of extrahepatic disease. Serological studies were negative for acute viral infections, and serum copper was normal.

Giacomo Laffi, Fabio Marra, Giampiero Buzzelli, Giuseppe Azzena, Egidio Meacci, Maria Laura De Feo, Giorgio La Villa, Paolo Gentilini – 1 June 1991 – In a randomized double‐blind trial we compared the effects of torasemide, a new loop diuretic, and furosemide in nonazotemic cirrhotic patients with ascites during a 3‐day period in association with potassium canrenoate (200 mg/day) administration. Doses of loop diuretics administered in this trial (10 and 25 mg/day of torasemide and furosemide, respectively) had been shown to be equipotent in healthy subjects.

Albert Geerts, Jean‐Marc Lazou, Pieter de Bleser, Eddie Wisse – 1 June 1991 – In this study, we have investigated the cell population kinetics of fat‐storing cells in livers of rats intoxicated with CCl4. Fat‐storing cells were identified in cryostat sections by immunoperoxidase staining of desmin. The peroxidase label was visualized using diaminobenzidine/hydrogen peroxide containing Ni2+ and Co2+‐ions (Nico/diaminobenzidine method). In normal rats, we found 12.8 fat‐storing cells/0.1 mm2 in periportal areas vs. 9.4 in pericentral fields.

1 June 1991

Kazuaki Chayama, Satoshi Saitoh, Yasuji Arase, Kenji Ikeda, Toyomi Matsumoto, Yoko Sakai, Mariko Kobayashi, Masamitsu Unakami, Tsuto Morinagaa, Hiromitsu Kumada – 1 June 1991 – Hepatitis C virus RNA as detected by reverse transcription and nested polymerase chain reaction was monitored in 16 patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon. Hepatitis C virus RNA became undetectable after 4 to 8 wk of interferon administration in 13 of the 16 patients.

Kiyohiko Kurai, Shiro Iino, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, Kazumi Shimoda, Kunihiko Hino – 1 June 1991 – We have separated circulating HBeAg into small and large molecular forms by agarose gel electrophoresis and analyzed the relationship between the two forms and other clinical features of chronic hepatitis B, especially in regard to liver cell damage.

Michael J. Krowka, Patricia M. Grambsch, Eric S. Edell, Denis A. Cortese, E. Rolland Dickson – 1 June 1991 – We studied the relationship between selected variables of hepatic and pulmonary function in 47 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, who were participating in a prospective study to assess sequential pulmonary function at yearly intervals. An additional 20 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, who were liver transplant candidates awaiting transplantation, were studied. None of the 67 patients ever smoked cigarettes.

Kayhan T. Nouri‐Aria, Joachim Arnold, Fergus Davison, Bernard C. Portmann, Anthony Meager, Alan G. Morris, Graeme J. M. Alexander, Adrian L. W. F. Eddleston, Roger Williams – 1 June 1991 – In this study we have examined the localization of interferon‐α in liver tissue from acute and chronic hepatitis B virus carriers to establish whether the defect in interferon‐α production reported in chronic hepatitis B virus infection is at a pretranscriptional or posttranscriptional level using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical techniques.

T. Jake Liang, Yaacov Baruch, Edna Ben‐Porath, Rafael Enat, Lucyna Bassan, Nancy V. Brown, Nurit Rimon, Hubert E. Blum, Jack R. Wands – 1 June 1991 – We studied 67 HBsAg‐negative Israeli patients (36 negative for all HBV serological markers as group 1 and 31 positive for antibodies to HBs and HBc as group 2) with chronic liver disease and cirrhosis of unknown origin using a rapid, sensitive and specific assay for the detection of low levels of hepatitis B virus in serum.