Gerhard Jost, Axel Wahlländer, Ursula Von Mandach, Rudolf Preisig – 1 March 1987 – The feasibility of measuring caffeine clearance from saliva (SCI) was assessed in ambulatory patients with liver disease and in a control group, and the results were compared with quantitative liver function tests. For this purpose, the subjects were given 280 mg caffeine p.o. in decaffeinated coffee powder between noon and 4 p.m., and caffeine concentrations were measured in saliva (using an enzyme immunoassay) before bedtime and upon arising. In the cirrhotics (n = 29), SCI was 0.58 ± S.D.

David W. Heitman, Teri A. Frosto, Steven Schenker, George I. Henderson – 1 March 1987 – Previous studies have indicated that acute, and especially chronic, maternal ethanol consumption can depress placental uptake of various amino acids. Since the fetal cell itself represents a second barrier to nutrients, one which may be altered by ethanol exposure, the effects of ethanol on amino acid net uptake by rat fetal hepatocytes was addressed. The present study determined that ethanol stimulated amino acid net uptake by fetal hepatocytes grown in monolayer culture.

Yusei Ikeda, Gotaro Toda, Naoaki Hashimoto, Shin‐Ichi Aotsuka, Ryuichi Yokohari, Toshiyuki Maruyama, Hiroshi Oka – 1 March 1987 – An ELISA has been developed for detection of auto‐antibodiees against calmodulin. There was a significantly increased frequency (63.1%) of autoantibodies against calmodulin in 103 patients with chronic liver diseases as compared to that (30%) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and to that (6.9%) of normal subjects (p < 0.01).

Manfred Alexander, Oscar W. Portman – 1 March 1987 – In the search for an animal model of genetic determinants of cholesterol cholelithiasis, we found strain, gender and individual differences in mice. Male black (C57BL6J) mice had a 50% incidence of cholesterol gallstones after they consumed lithogenic food similar to that used by Tepperman et al. for 2 weeks, whereas similarly treated male agouti (CBA/J) mice and females of both strains were free of gallstones.

Jean‐Jacques Lefrère, Danièle Gozin, Louis Bettan – 1 March 1987

Peter B. Anthony – 1 March 1987 – Liver cell dysplasia (LCD) was investigated for hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers, alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) and ferritin by serologic and immuno‐histochemical methods in 101 patients with cirrhosis. LCD was found in 30 cases (29.7%), with the highest incidence in cases of posthepatitic cirrhosis (67%). In the group of dysplastic cirrhosis (DC) 46.6% of the patients had active HBV infection (hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] serum positivity) compared with 7% of the patients with nondysplastic cirrhosis (NDC) (P < 0.01).

D. Brian Jones, Vinod K. Rustgi, David M. Kornhauser, Amina Woods, Richard Quinn, Jay H. Hoofnagle, E. Anthony Jones – 1 March 1987 – The antiviral drug, acyclovir, has been used in the treatment of chronic type B hepatitis. High serum concentrations of acyclovir are required to achieve inhibition of hepatitis B viral replication. Because only 15 to 20% of an oral dose is absorbed, it is necessary to administer acyclovir by intravenous infusion.

Teresa L. Wright, Nina Lysenko, Robert K. Ockner, Richard A. Weisiger – 1 March 1987 – The hepatitis B virus binds avidly to albumin polymers which in turn may mediate the initial binding of viral particles to the liver cell. However, the interaction of albumin polymers with the liver remains poorly characterized, and the possibility that hepatic binding reflects an artifact of polymerization with glutaraldehyde has not been excluded. We therefore characterized the binding of 125I‐labeled natural and synthetic albumin polymers to suspensions of rat hepatocytes.

Joy H. Glaser, Rachel Morecki, Sheila Fallon‐Friedlander, Marshall S. Horwitz – 1 March 1987 – Rabbit sera injected intraperitoneally into BALB/c mice were noted to produce a considerable and selective enlargement of extrahepatic bile ducts. The gallbladder, intrahepatic ducts, liver and other organs showed no stimulaion of growth. Duct enlargement leading to widening of its outer diameter which, on average, was 3.6 times that of normal, was due entirely to an increased number of epithelial cells with prominent proliferation of intramural glandular components.

Eric B. Larson – 1 March 1987 – Five cases of inflammatory pseudotumour of the liver are reported and compared with seven individual previously published case reports. Clinical presentation was variable but often comprised low grade intermittent fever, vague abdominal symptoms, and a history of weight loss. Leucocytosis, raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and polyclonal hyperglobulinaemia were also sometimes detected. All five cases in the present series were considered to be clinically malignant; and in two the histological diagnosis was also that of malignancy.