Kunio Okuda – 1 September 1988 – A new mutant causing hereditary hepatitis associated with severe jaundice has been discovered in the LEC strain of rats. Hepatitis appears suddenly in adult rats three to four months after birth. The clinical signs of hepatitis are characterized by severe jaundice, subcutaneous bleeding, oliguria, and loss of body weight. The affected rats showed a high lethality and histological changes of the liver with focal necrosis of enlarged hepatocytes without inflammatory cell response.

Neville L. Sandford, Ronald E. Saul – 1 September 1988 – Thirty‐six patients with advanced chronic liver disease of predominantly alcoholic etiology and with a documented history or current physical evidence of hepatic encephalopathy were studied and compared to 30 healthy controls. Assessment was made of their mental state, number connection test, venous blood ammonia, electroencephalography and visual evoked potentials with both pattern reversal and flash stimuli.

Roger F. Butterworth, Joël Lavoie, Jean‐François Giguère, Gilles Pomier‐Layrargues – 1 September 1988 – The integrity of GABA‐A receptors and of central benzodiazepine receptors was evaluated in membrane preparations from prefrontal cortex and caudate nuclei obtained at autopsy from nine cirrhotic patients who died in hepatic coma and an equal number of age‐matched control subjects. Histopathological studies revealed Alzheimer Type II astrocytosis in all cases in the cirrhotic group; controls were free from neurological, psychiatric or hepatic diseases.

Douglas M. Heuman, Z. Reno Vlahcevic, Marsha L. Bailey, Phillip B. Hylemon – 1 July 1988 – Bile acid synthesis is believed to be regulated by bile salts returning to the liver via the portal vein and suppressing cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase, the rate‐limiting enzyme in the bile acid biosynthesis pathway. In order to characterize the relative effectiveness of bile salts in regulating bile acid synthesis, seven different bile acids were administered (1% w/w in chow) to rats over a 14‐day period.

Ann A. Jerkins, Robert D. Steele – 1 July 1988 – In a series of experiments, rats were subjected to end‐to‐side portacaval shunts using either suture or nonsuture surgical procedures. Rats were maintained on cereal‐based or purified diets in pellet form. All rats recovered preoperative body weights within the experimental periods; however, recovery of preoperative body weight was influenced by surgical technique and diet composition.

Miquel Navasa, Jaime Bosch, Jürg Reichen, Conxita Bru, Ricardo Mastai, Thomas Zysset, Guillermo Silva, Jaime Chesta, Joan Rodés – 1 July 1988 – The effects of verapamil on hepatic and systemic hemodynamics and on liver function were investigated in 10 patients with portal hypertension due to advanced micronodular cirrhosis to verify whether, as it has been suggested, this calcium channel blocker may improve liver function and reduce portal pressure in these patients.

Yasushi Shiratori, Tateo Kawase, Shuichiro Shiina, Ken'Ichi Okano, Tsuneaki Sugimoto, Hitoshi Teraoka, Sunao Matano, Kazunori Matsumoto, Kazuo Kamii – 1 July 1988 – In an attempt to elucidate the role of hepatic macrophages in liver injury, we investigated galactosamine‐treated rats (500 mg per kg body weight). The rats received an i.v. injection of latex particles (2 × 109 particles per animal) prior to (latex‐galactosamine) or 12 to 16 hr subsequent to the galactosamine treatment (galactosamine‐latex).

Esteban Mezey, Joseph E. Oesterling, James J. Potter – 1 July 1988 – The effect of a reduction in androgens on ethanol elimination was determined in man. Bilateral therapeutic orchiectomy in nine patients for prostatic carcinoma decreased mean plasma testosterone levels from 489.8 ± 31.2 (S.E.) ng per dl to 55.3 ± 3.8 ng per dl and resulted in an increase in the rate of ethanol elimination in seven patients, no change in one, and a decrease in one. The mean rate of ethanol elimination for all nine patients increased from 83.6 ± 4.0 to 100.4 ± 4.2 mg per kg body weight per hr (p < 0.02).

Cesare Cravetto, Gianpaolo Molino, Alan F. Hofmann, Gustavo Belforte, Basilio Bona – 1 July 1988 – The effect of three isolated defects in the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids on the size and distribution of the bile acid pool, plasma bile acid levels and bile acid secretion into the intestine was simulated using a linear multicompartmental physiological pharmacokinetic model previously used to simulate these aspects of bile acid metabolism in healthy man.

Elisha Atkins – 1 July 1988