Bernd Möller, Uwe Hopf, Roman Stemerowicz, Günther Henze, Hans Gelderblom – 1 August 1989 – Circulating immune complexes composed of HBcAg and anti‐HBc have been demonstrated recently in patients with hepatitis B virus replication. After dissociation of immune complexes by chaotropic ions, HBcAg was quantified radioimmunologically. In the present study, we describe 10 patients with hepatitis B virus replication, absent or delayed anti‐HBc formation and exposed HBcAg in serum. Four of the 10 patients had acute hepatitis, and six patients had chronic persistent hepatitis.

Anna Lok – 1 August 1989 – The aetiology of sporadic acute hepatitis in Taiwan was studied in a consecutive series of 273 patients, 209 males and 64 females, aged from < 1 to 73 years. Only eight patients (2.9%) had acute hepatitis A, 36 (13.2%) acute hepatitis B and 57 (20.9%) had acute non‐A, non‐B hepatitis (NANB). The remaining 172 patients (63.0%) were HBsAg positive but antiHBc IgM negative and were classified as acute hepatitis in chronic HBsAg carriers.

S. W. Hosking – 1 August 1989 – Mosaic pattern of gastric mucosa has been reported to be a sensitive and specific criterion for the diagnosis of portal hypertension and an important marker of nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. So that the validity of this endoscopic sign could be assessed, 136 patients with portal hypertension, 25 chronic alcoholics without portal hypertension, and 366 controls were carefully endoscoped. Mosaic pattern was significantly (p < 0.01) more common in portal hypertension patients (7.4%) than in controls (1.4%). It was not seen in chronic alcoholics.

Daniel Urbain, Hamphrey R. Ham, Agesilao D'Arienzo, Gabriele Mazzacca – 1 August 1989

1 August 1989

Jaap J. Beutler, Hein A. Koomans, Ton J. Rabelink, Carlo A. Gaillard, Jan van Hattum, Peter Boer, Evert J. Dorhout Mees – 1 August 1989 – We compared the natriuretic response to a standard dose of atrial natriuretic factor in nine patients with early cirrhosis (no ascites or edema) with the response in normal subjects displaying a range of baseline sodium excretions due to different sodium intakes (20 mmoles per day, n = 9; 100 mmoles per day, n = 9, and 200 mmoles per day, n = 9).

Roderich E. Schwarz, Shunzaburo Iwatsuki, Ronald B. Herberman, Theresa L. Whiteside – 1 August 1989 – Lymphokine‐activated killer cells were generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 33 patients with liver tumors (benign, 6; primary malignant, 10; metastatic, 17) and 10 healthy individuals. Although peripheral blood mononuclear cell yield was significantly lower (p < 0.01) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or with metastatic colorectal cancer, natural killer activity in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell fraction was comparable in all groups tested.

Yasuni Nakanuma, Motoko Sasaki – 1 August 1989 – The distribution of blood group‐related antigens (A, B, H, Leb) in the intrahepatic biliary tree and hepatocytes was studied by immunoperoxidase techniques. In normal livers, large and septal bile ducts expressed A and B antigens in the cases with comparable blood groups and also expressed H antigen frequently in the cases with blood group O, A or B, and infrequently in the cases with AB. Lea and Leb were found in biliary cells at any level in secretors.

Zvi Ackerman, Moshe Y. Flugelman, Yohanan Wax, Daniel Shouval, Micha Levy – 1 August 1989 – Fifty‐six per cent of 118 young adults observed during a recent measles epidemic had some disturbance on liver function tests. Five per cent developed overt jaundice. Patients treated for fever with paracetamol were found to have significantly higher rates of transaminase impairment compared to those treated with dipyrone. Sixty‐five and 58% of patients given paracetamol had elevated ALT and AST levels, respectively.

Giulio Marchesini, Gianpaolo Bianchi – 1 August 1989 – Fourteen normal controls, eleven patients with non‐alcoholic cirrhosis, twenty‐nine with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and six with HCC and hypoglycemia were studied. The tests performed include iv glucose tolerance test (25 g) and glucagon challenge test (2 mg). In cirrhosis, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance were demonstrated. The fasting hyperinsulinemia in cirrhosis is the result of decreased degradation as shown by the normal fasting C‐peptide.