Stefan G. Hubscher, Mrcpath, Raouf E. Nakhleh, Dale C. Snover – 1 November 1990

Douglas D. Dalke, Michael F. Sorrell, Carol A. Casey, Dean J. Tuma – 1 November 1990 – The effects of chronic ethanol administration on the receptor‐mediated endocytosis of epidermal growth factor were studied in isolated rat hepatocytes. In initial experiments, it was demonstrated that significantly less ligand was bound by hepatocytes isolated from rats fed an ethanol liquid diet for 5 to 7 wk than by cells isolated from chow‐fed or pair‐fed controls. Reduced binding was shown to be primarily caused by a decreased number of surface receptors rather than by changes in receptor affinity.

Heinz Hartmann, Frank Schmitz, Bruno Christ, Kurt Jungermann, Werner Creutzfeldt – 1 November 1990 – Short‐term and long‐term regulation of hepatic carbohydrate metabolism by insulinlike growth factor‐I was studied in primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes and compared with the metabolic potency of insulin. Insulinlike growth factor‐I stimulated the formation of [14C]lactate from [14C]glucose up to three‐fold with a half‐maximally effective concentration of ∼50 nmol/L.

John C. Bucuvalas, James E. Heubi, Bonny L. Specker, Deborah J. Gregg, Alfred L. Yergey, Nancy E. Vieira – 1 November 1990 – Fractional absorption of calcium was determined in 9 children aged 4.9 to 16.9 yr with chronic cholestatic liver disease to determine the role of calcium malabsorption in the development of metabolic bone disease. Radiological evidence of rickets was absent in all patients, but bone density, measured by single beam photon absorptiometry of the distal radius, was reduced in eight of nine subjects.

Rajeev Mehta, Jeanne Gottstein, W. Patrick Zeller, Robert Lichtenberg, Andres T. Blei – 1 November 1990 – Humoral factors may be responsible for the hyperdynamic circulation seen in portal hypertension. Endotoxin, a peripheral arteriolar vasodilator, has been proposed to mediate this hemodynamic picture. We examined the pathogenic role of endotoxin in portal vein—ligated rats, a prehepatic portal hypertensive model with a well‐developed hyperdynamic circulation.

Tadashi Terada, Yasuni Nakanuma – 1 November 1990 – Pathological changes and significance of intrahepatic peribiliary glands, hitherto poorly recognized intrahepatic elements, have been evaluated in our laboratory. In this report, we surveyed necroinflammatory and cystic changes of the peribiliary glands in 1,000 consecutive autopsy livers because these two changes coexisted frequently in the same liver. The necroinflammatory change was found in 228 livers (22.8%) and the cystic change in 202 livers (20.2%), and 103 cases showed both changes in the same liver.

Manuel Guzman, José Castro – 1 November 1990 – Periportal and perivenous hepatocytes were isolated from rats fed a high‐fat, ethanol‐containing diet to investigate the acinar heterogeneity of the effects of prolonged ethanol administration on lipid metabolism. Chronic feeding of ethanol caused a rather selective accumulation of triacylglycerols in the perivenous zone of the liver.

Jaap Kwekkeboom, Hans M. G. Princen, Eline M. van Voorthuizen, Herman Jan M. Kempen – 1 November 1990 – Feedback regulation of bile acid synthesis by its end products was studied in cultured hepatocytes of young weaned pigs. We previously showed that conversion of exogenous [14C] cholesterol into bile acids was suppressed by addition of bile acids to the culture medium. In the present study, the effects of bile acids on bile acid mass production and cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase activity were examined.

Anna Mae Diehl, Suzan Abdo, Nesbitt Brown – 1 October 1990 – Biosynthesis of the polyamines, putrescine, spermidine and spermine, is required for DNA synthesis and liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy. Chronic ethanol consumption impairs polyamine synthesis during the prereplicative phase after partial hepatectomy. To determine whether this delay in polyamine synthesis contributes to ethanol's inhibition of liver regeneration, the ability of supplemental putrescine to improve regeneration in ethanol‐fed rats was tested.

Pere Ginés, Antoni Rimola, Ramón Planas, Victor Vargas, Francesc Marco, Manuel Almela, Montserrat Forne, Maria Luisa Miranda, Josep Llach, Joan Manuel Salmerón, Maria Esteve, Josep Maria Marques, Maria Teresa Jiménez de Anta, Vicente Arroyo, Joan Rodés – 1 October 1990 – Eighty cirrhotic patients who had recovered from an episode of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis were included in a multicenter, double‐blind trial aimed at comparing long‐term norfloxacin administration (400 mg/day; 40 patients) vs. placebo (40 patients) in the prevention of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis recurrence.