Elisabetta Cariani, Chantal Lasserre, François Kemeny, Dominique Franco, Christian Brechot – 1 April 1991 – Insulin‐like growth factor II is a fetal growth factor structurally and functionally related to insulin and insulin‐like growth factor I. Its mRNA expression is developmentally regulated in human liver, the reexpression of insulin‐like growth factor II fetal transcripts being often observed in primary liver cancer. Insulin‐like growth factor II and α‐fetoprotein mRNAs were studied in 16 human primary liver cancers, most of which were highly differentiated.

Jacques Devière, Jean‐Pierre Vaerman, Jean Content, Chantal Denys, Liliane Schandene, Paul Vandenbussche, Yves Sibille, Etienne Dupont – 1 April 1991 – Under endotoxin‐free conditions, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and purified monocytes isolated from healthy control subjects and patients with alcoholic cirrhosis disclose elevated tumor necrosis factor α messenger RNA level and produce tumor necrosis factor α in response to stimulation by either soluble polymeric IgA or monomeric IgA bound to the surface of culture dishes but not by soluble monomeric IgA.

Raymond S. Koff, Franklin M. Klien – 1 April 1991

1 April 1991

Bennie L. Baker, Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, Shuichi Kaneko, Roger Miller, Stephen M. Feinstone, Jeanne G. Waggoner, Jay H. Hoofnagle – 1 April 1991 – Sera from 98 patients with various stages of chronic hepatitis B virus infection were studied to determine the clinical significance of hepatitis B virus DNA in serum detected by the polymerase chain reaction. Patients were divided into three groups according to their HBsAg and HBeAg status.

Hubertus Wietholtz, Hanns‐Ulrich Marschall, Regina Reuschenbach, Heidrun Matern, Siegfried Matern – 1 April 1991 – Recently the formation of bile acid glucosides has been described as a novel conjugation mechanism in vitro and in vivo. In 10 patients with extrahepatic cholestasis caused by carcinoma of the head of the pancreas we investigated excretion rates and profiles of urinary bile acid glucosides. Urinary bile acid glucosides and, for comparison, bile acid glucuronides were extracted and characterized according to established methods.

Katriina Nikkilä, Krister Höckerstedt, Tatu A.

Winston L. Hutchinson, Ming‐Qing Du, Philip J. Johnson, Roger Williams – 1 April 1991 – To determine whether abnormal metabolism of l‐fucose in hepatocellular carcinoma is accompanied by alterations in the activities of fucosyltransferases, the latter were determined in plasma and liver tissue of patients with this disease and in cirrhotic and normal subjects. Activities of α‐2/α‐3 and α‐6‐l ‐fucosyltransferases were all significantly greater in plasma from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma than in plasma from cirrhotic patients or normal subjects (p < 0.025).

Anna Mae Diehl, Hanna Cathrine Bisgaard, Betsy T. Kren, Clifford J. Steer – 1 April 1991 – The effects of chronic ethanol consumption on enzyme systems involved in carcinogen activation and detoxification were studied in a rat model of liver regeneration. In control rats, steady‐state messenger RNAs of cytochrome P450j decreased 12 to 24 hr after partial hepatectomy but were fully recovered by 48 to 72 hr. In contrast, messenger RNA levels of cytochrome P450b and P450d did not vary significantly during that period.

Pierre M. E. Solbreux, Paul Maldague, Jean Pierre Vaerman – 1 April 1991 – Another group of researchers has reported that seven intraperitoneal injections into mice of purified human serum IgA or normal human serum–but not IgA‐deficient serum, mouse serum or saline–induced considerable growth of the extrahepatic bile duct epithelium. They stated that heterologous IgA was principally responsible for this effect.