Yun‐Fan Liaw – 1 June 1990 – The case of a young man with hepatitis A and a chronic course is presented. The patient recived a short course of steroid therapy for recurrence of symptoms following acute hepatitis A. Thereafter liver enzymes have remained marginally elevated for 4 years and annual liver biopsies have shown evidence of chronicity. HAV IgM Ab persisted for 1034 days with subsequent development of HAV IgG Ab. The possiblity of other viruses in the aetiology and the role of steroids in the development of chronicity are discussed.

Michael D. Kew – 1 June 1990 – Previous reports have emphasized the association of primary hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with idiopathic hemochromatosis with cirrhosis. In contrast, patients with idiopathic hemochromatosis without cirrhosis have no increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Phlebotomy therapy, by preventing the accumulation of parenchymal iron and subsequent cirrhosis, is believed to prevent hepatocellular carcinoma in the precirrhotic stage of the disease.

Patricia A. Gabow, Ann M. Johnson, William D. Kaehny, Michael L. Manco‐Johnson, Irene T. Duley, Gregory T. Everson – 1 June 1990 – Hepatic cysts are a major manifestation of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. This study examined 239 autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease patients and 189 unaffected family members to define the factors that influence the presence and severity of hepatic cysts. Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease patients with hepatic cysts were older than autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease patients without such cysts (44.6 ± 1.1 yr vs.

Adrian Schmassmann, Alan F. Hofmann, M. Antonietta Angellotti, Huong‐Thu Ton‐Nu, Claudio D. Schteingart, Carlo Clerici, Steven S. Rossi, Marcus A. Rothschild, Bertram I. Cohen, Richard J. Stenger, Erwin H. Mosbach – 1 June 1990 – The effect of dietary administration of four different amino acid (N‐acyl) conjugates of ursodeoxycholic acid on biliary bile acid composition, liver tests and hepatic morphology by light microscopy was examined in the rabbit.

Robert P. Cornell, Barbara L. Liljequist, Kenneth F. Bartizal – 1 June 1990 – A hypothesis has been proposed by this laboratory that endogenous gut‐derived lipopolysaccharide is responsible for systemic endotoxemia in animals with acute liver injury particularly after partial (67%) hepatectomy. Systemic lipopolysaccharide and possibly fibrin aggregates or tissue debris then elicit release of cytokines from phagocytizing macrophages and/or monocytes that may be essential for normal liver regeneration.

Jerome D. Waye – 1 May 1990

Ted F. Bader – 1 May 1990

Joel Lavoie, Gilles Pomier Layrargues, Roger F. Butterworth – 1 May 1990 – Peripheral‐type benzodiazepine receptors were evaluated using the specific ligand [3H]‐PK 11195 in brain homogenates from nine cirrhotic patients who died in hepatic coma and from an equal number of age‐matched control subjects. Histopathological studies showed evidence of severe Alzheimer type II astrocytosis in the brains of all cirrhotic patients. Saturation‐binding assays revealed a single saturable binding site for [3H]‐PK 11195 in brain, with affinities in the 2‐ to 3‐nmol/L range.

Hernan Speisky, Nick Shackel, George Varghese, Denis Wade, Yedy Israel – 1 May 1990 – The role of hepatic γ‐glutamyltransferase in the breakdown of circulating glutathione was studied in the perfused guinea pig liver. Hepatic γ‐glutamyltransferase activity in the guinea pig is sevenfold higher than in the rat and is comparable to its activity in man. Guinea pig livers were found to remove, in a single pass, 50% to 90% of glutathione ( 10 to 50 μmol/L) added to the portal perfusate.

Maski Nakayama, Yasuyki Okamoto, Tomofumi Morita, Makoto Matsumoto, Hiroshi Fukui, Hiroshi Nakano, Tadasu Tsujii – 1 May 1990 – Hypercitrullinemia (adult type), believed to be one of the hereditary urea cycle disorders, is known to be complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma at a high incidence (approximately 14%). Weinvestigated the relationship between this hypercitrullinemia and he‐patocarcinogenesis. After the addition of citrulline, incorporation of tritiated thymidine into primary cultured hepatocytes of adult rat increased in a dose‐dependent fashion in the range of 0.1 to 5 mmol/L.