Demonstration of “naturally occurring mitochondrial antibodies” in family members of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis

Reinhild Klein, Peter A. Berg – 1 August 1990 – Sera from 81 healthy family members (including husbands) of 13 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis were tested by Western blotting against the antigen fractions M9 and M2 derived respectively from rat liver and beef heart mitochondria. Fifty‐eight (70%) were positive and recognized four major (molecular weights 98 kD, 65 kD, 61 kD, 58 kD) and eight minor determinants (85 kD, 81 kD, 78 kD, 54 kD, 48 kD, 45 kD, 40 kD, 30 kD) labeled α‐my. Each of the 58 sera recognized at least one of the four major polypeptides.

Isolated perfused cirrhotic human liver obtained from liver transplant patients: A feasibility study

Jean‐Pierre Villeneuve, P.‐Michel Huet, Louise Gariepy, Daphna Fenyves, Bernard Willems, Jean Cǒté, Réal Lapointe, Denis Marleau – 1 August 1990 – Cirrhotic livers obtained from eight patients who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation were perfused through the portal vein and hepatic artery in a closed recycling system for periods ranging from 2 to 7 hr. An average perfusion flow of 451 ml/min was used, with about 80% coming from the portal vein and 20% from the hepatic artery.

Fine specificity of human antibody response to the pres1 domain of hepatitis B virus

Alfredo Alberti, Daniela Cavalletto, Liliana Chemello, Fabio Beluss, Giovanna Fattovich, Patrizia Pontisso, Gabriele Milanes, Arturo Ruol – 1 August 1990 – The preS1 domain of hepatitis B virus envelope proteins contains a site of attachment to the hepatocyte membrane that has been shown to evoke virusneutralizing antibodies. Using synthetic peptides, we have examined kinetics and specificity of the antibody response to preS1 during acute and chronic HBV infection.

Nonabsorbable disaccharides plus neomycin in hepatic encephalopathy: Do they enhance each other?

Livio Capocaccia, Oliviero Riggio – 1 August 1990 – The beneficial effect of disaccharides, lactulose and lactitol, in prevention and treatment of hepatic encephalopathy is well established but their use in combination with neomycin is still controversial. We studied in vitro the fecal bacterial growth, acid and gas formation in presence of lactitol (beta‐galactosidesorbitol) and neomycin alone or in combination. The results indicate that neomycin only inhibits the growth of susceptible bacteria (E. coli, Staph. aureus) which, conversely, are poor lactitol fermenters.

Analysis of hepatic T lymphocyte and immunoglobulin deposits in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis

Sheri M. Krams, Judy van de Water, Ross L. Coppel, Carlos Esquivel, John Roberts, Aftab Ansari, M. Eric Gershwin – 1 August 1990 – The histological findings in patients with primary biiary cirrhosis have been well‐defined and are often used in the clinical staging of disease. However, it has only been with the development of reagents that phenotypically characterize the lymphoid infiltrate that attempts have been made to correlate pathophysiology with immune effector populations.

HLA phenotypes and gene polymorphisms in juvenile liver disease associated with α1‐antitrypsin deficiency

Derek G. Doherty, Peter T. Donaldson, David B. Whitehouse, Giorgina Mieli‐Vergani, Ann Duthie, David A. Hopkinson, Alex P. Mowat – 1 August 1990 – Chronic liver disease affects up to 20% of children with α‐antitrypsin deficiency owing to the PiZZ genotype. Previous observations of a familial occurrence and abnormal immune responses to liver antigens in these patients suggests that immunoregulatory genes may be involved in the pathogenesis of liver damage.

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