M. Pilar Pizcueta, Antonio M. de Lacy, David Kravetz, Jaime Bosch, Joan Rodés – 1 December 1989 – Propranolol decreases portal pressure by reducing portal blood inflow. Studies in rats with prehepatic portal hypertension due to portal vein stenosis (a model with extensive portosystemic shunting) have shown that propranolol increases the portocollateral resistance, which hinders the fall in portal pressure.

Bikram Verma‐Ansil, Frederick J. Carmichael, Victor Saldivia, George Varghese, Hector Orrego – 1 December 1989 – Alcoholic liver disease is frequently accompanied by portal hypertension. We have previously shown that alcohol intake in awake, unrestrained rats is followed by an increase in portal tributary blood flow. In this study, the effect of ethanol on splanchnic hemodynamics in rats with portal hypertension was analyzed. Portal hypertension was induced by partial ligation of the portal vein.

Harold O. Conn – 1 December 1989 – A 34‐year‐old patient with cryptogenic cirrhosis underwent a portacaval shunt after four episodes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. His subsequent course is remarkable not onle because of its 26‐year duration, but also because of the absence of any subsequent hepatic decomensation such as jaundice, ascites, coagulopathy or encephalopathy. Currently, the shunt is patent.

Takashi Sonoda, Ken Shirabe, Kenji Takenaka, Takashi Kanematsu, Kotaro Yasumori, Keizo Sugimachi – 1 December 1989 – We studied 36 cases (38 nodules) of small hepatocellular carcinoma with special attention directed to detectability using angiography and histology. Among the 38 nodules, 31 nodules (81.6%) were evident. The remaining seven (18.4%) were not evident angiographically but were detected using ultrasonography and/or computed tomography, prior to angiography. An elevated level of serum α‐fetoprotein also suggested a diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Christian Müller, Peter Knoflach, Christoph C. Zielinski – 1 December 1989 – Serum levels of soluble interleukin 2 receptor were determined in patients with acute viral hepatitis and patients with various chronic liver diseases. In addition, the ability of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis to generate soluble interleukin 2 receptor following mitogenic stimulation was studied in vitro.

Erik Schrumpf – 1 December 1989 – The association of primary sclerosing cholangitis and celiac disease was observed in three patients, an association not previously reported. All three patients were men who presented with chronic cholestatic liver disease at ages 32, 46, and 62 years, respectively. In each patient, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography showed the typical findings of primary sclerosing cholangitis. Histologic features of liver biopsy were compatible with the diagnosis. Two patients had associated chronic ulcerative colitis.

Harold O. Conn – 1 December 1989

Xiao‐Li Ma, Enrique Baraona, Rolando Hernández‐Muñoz, Charles S. Lieber – 1 December 1989 – Acetaldehyde, a product of ethanol oxidation which forms adducts with proteins, has been incriminated in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver injury. High serum antibody titers against acetaldehyde‐protein adducts have been found not only in alcoholics but also in patients with nonalcoholic liver disease, suggesting a contribution of acetaldehyde derived from sources other than exogenous ethanol.

James R. Jacob, Jorg W. Eichberg, Robert E. Lanford – 1 December 1989 – Primary chimpanzee hepatocytes were maintained in vitro utilizing a serum‐free medium. Hepatocyte functions were sustained throughout the culture period as demonstrated by the synthesis and secretion of liver‐specific plasma proteins characteristic for differentiated hepatocytes. Hepatocyte cultures established from a chimpanzee chronically infected with human hepatitis B virus exhibited the synthesis and secretion of hepatitis B virus proteins into the medium.

Maria Buti, Rafael Esteban, Rosendo Jardi, Francisco Rodriguez‐Frias, Jose Casacuberta, Juan Ignacio Esteban, Elena Allende, Jaime Guardia – 1 December 1989 – To investigate the presence of serum hepatitis delta virus antigen by immunoblot and its correlation with other markers of active viral replication (intrahepatic hepatitis D antigen, IgM antibody to hepatitis D and serum hepatitis D virus RNA), we studied serum samples from 50 patients with chronic hepatitis D virus infection (38 with and 12 without intrahepatic hepatitis D antigen).