Wim P. M. Hopman, Jan B. M. J. Jansen, Gerd Rosenbusch, Cornelis B. H. W. Lamers – 1 February 1990 – To determine the role of cholecystokinin and the cholinergic system in intestinal stimulation of gallbladder contraction, we studied the effects of atropine on plasma cholecystokinin and gallbladder contraction in six healthy volunteers (four men and two women aged 20 to 27 yr). Effects were noted after intraduodenal fat instillation and after dosage with exogenous cholecystokinin inducing plasma cholecystokinin concentrations similar to those after intraduodenal fat instillation.

Michael C. Kew, Ernest Song, Abdullah Mohammed, John Hodkinson – 1 February 1990 – The role of contraceptive steroids in the etiology or pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma in urban South African black women was investigated in a hospital‐based case and control study. Participating were 46 women, 19 to 54 yr old, with carcinoma, and 92 matched controls. South African blacks have a high incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma, and urban black women have used contraceptive steroids fairly widely for a number of years.

Y. Edward Hsia – 1 February 1990 – Genetic disorders were identified infrequently among children presenting with Reye's syndrome in the past. During a two‐year period, we evaluated four consecutive patients referred for intensive care of Reye's syndrome. A standard investigation for inborn errors of metabolism revealed that two patients had enzymatic defects of fatty acid oxidation, and the other two had partial deficiencies of ornithine transcarbamoylase. None had experienced a previous episode of Reye's syndrome, and three of the four had been entirely healthy in the past.

Patrick Campbell, Jerry N. Thompson, J. Robert E. Fraser, Torvard C. Laurent, HåKan Pertoft, Lennart Rodén – 1 February 1990 – The activity of N‐acetylglucosamine‐6‐phosphate deacetylase, a key enzyme in the pathway of N‐acetylglucosamine catabolism, was measured in hepatocytes, Kupffer cells and sinusoidal endothelial cells from rat liver and cultured human skin fibroblasts. Kupffer cells and endothelial cells had similar high levels of deacetylase activity that were more than twice the level observed in fibroblasts.

Marcus Sellinger, Carolyn Barrett, Phillipe Malle, Ellen R. Gordon, James L. Boyer – 1 February 1990 – Controversy exists concerning the localization of the enzyme Na+, K+‐ATPase to canalicular membranes in hepatocytes. Most studies find enzyme activity only at the basolateral plasma membrane domain of the hepatocyte. However, Na+, K+‐ATPase activity has been detected recently in a canalicular membrane fraction prepared by Mg++ precipitation, suggesting that differences in membrane domain fluidity account for these discrepancies.

R. Thomas Holzbach – 1 February 1990

1 February 1990

Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, Vinod K. Rustgi, Chris Kassianides, Mauricio Lisker‐Melman, Yoon Park, Jeanne G. Waggoner, Jay H. Hoofnagle – 1 February 1990 – Eight patients with chronic hepatitis B entered a pilot study of gamma interferon and alpha interferon in combination. Gamma interferon alone had minimal inhibitory effects on serum levels of hepatitis B virus as monitored by serum HBV DNA and DNA‐polymerase activity. The drug also gave troublesome side effects. In contrast, alpha interferon had more potent inhibitory effects on serum HBV levels and fewer side effects.

Steven Schenker, Henry S. Perkins, Michael F. Sorrell – 1 February 1990

S. K. Sarin – 1 February 1990 – Absolute alcohol is a potentially optimal agent for sclerotherapy of esophageal varices. It is cheap and readily available. We compared the efficacy and safety of alcohol with those of a commonly used sclerosing agent, polidocanol. The study was planned to include patients with previous bleeding from esophageal varices randomly assigned to one of the two treatments.