Jorge Cerbón‐Ambriz, Jorge Cerbón‐Solórzano, Marcos Rojkind – 1 March 1991 – Previous work has shown that lactic acid, and to a lesser extent pyruvic acid, is able to increase collagen synthesis significantly in liver slices of CCl4‐treated rats but not normal rats. The purpose of this report is to document which cells in the cirrhotic liver are responsible for the lactate‐stimulated increase in collagen synthesis.

Shelley P. M. Fussey, J. Gordon Lindsay, Christopher Fuller, Richard N. Perham, Susan Dale, Oliver F. W. James, Margaret F. Bassendine, Stephen J. Yeaman – 1 March 1991 – Six components of the mammalian 2‐oxo acid dehydrogenase complexes have previously been identified as M2 autoantigens in primary biliary cirrhosis. In this report, we present data showing that both polypeptidespecific and cross‐reacting antibodies are present in patients' sera. Antibodies reacting with E2 of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex cross‐react with protein X but not with any other mammalian antigen.

Jorge J. Gumucio, Peter F. Malet – 1 March 1991 – Endoscopic intra abdominal surgery yet routinely used for gynecologic operations can be extended for performing cholecystectomy in uncomplicated cholelithiasis.

Robert F. Speck, Bernhard H. Lauterburg – 1 March 1991 – Recent observations suggest that products of nonparenchymal liver cells such as eicosanoids and cytokines might play a role in the expression of liver injury after administration of acetaminophen and other noxious agents. We therefore investigated the effect of a fish oil diet, which results in the generation of eicosanoids with altered biological properties and suppresses the production of certain cytokines on acetaminophen hepatotoxicity.

Wolfgang Hagmann, Iris Kaiser, Barbara A. Jakschik – 1 March 1991 – The ability of livers to produce endogenous leukotrienes after immunological stimulation was tested with organs from rats and guinea pigs. Passive sensitization of rats in vivo with monoclonal murine antidinitrophenol‐IgE before antigen challenge in the isolated perfused liver system elicited a rapid hepatic production and biliary excretion of leukotrienes as judged by radioimmunoassay after separation of individual leukotrienes by high‐performance liquid chromatography.

1 March 1991

Clara López, Wladimiro Jiménez, Vicente Arroyo, Joan Clària, Giorgio La Villa, Mónica Asbert, Joan Gaya, Francisca Rivera, Joan Rodés – 1 March 1991 – It has been proposed that the initial event of sodium retention in cirrhosis is a peripheral arteriolar vasodilation causing underfilling of the arterial vascular compartment and stimulation of the renin‐aldosterone and sympathetic nervous systems.

Shiv K. Sarin, Piergiorgio Mosca, Carlo Sabbà, Roberto J. Groszmann – 1 March 1991 – Chronic murine schistosomiasis is a natural disease model of portal hypertension closely mimicking the clinical and histological features of human hepatic schistosomiasis. We studied the splanchnic and systemic hemodynamics in the murine model of schistosomiasis by radioactive microsphere technique. Mice infected with 60 cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni (n = 8) were studied hemodynamically 11 wk after the infection and were compared with age‐matched healthy controls (n = 11).

Catherine Dubé, Sylvie Vallières, Chantal Éthier, Nawel Benbrahim, Chantale Tremblay, Marielle Gascon‐Barré – 1 March 1991 – To test further the competence of the cirrhotic liver to metabolize vitamin D3 at C‐25, hepatocytes were isolated from controls and from CCl4‐induced cirrhotic rat livers, as well as from partially hepatectomized rats. The transformation of D3 into 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 was studied in the presence of 107 hepatocytes at D3 concentrations of 20 nmol/L to 15.4 μmol/L.

Kazuo Shimada, Jiro Yanagisawa, Fumio Nakayama – 1 March 1991 – A high incidence of inflammation and carcinoma of the biliary tract in patients with anomalous pancreaticobiliary ductal junction has been well documented. The change in biliary phospholipids as a result of the reflux of pancreatic juice into the biliary tract through anomalous pancreaticobiliary ductal junction may be responsible for it. We developed a new method of analysis of phospholipid classes using aminopropyl Bond Elut cartridge for extraction and highperformance liquid chromatography for separation.