S. Boccia, N. Stabellini, F. Macario, F. Ghinelli – 1 March 1987

Theresa C. Peterson, C. Noel Williams – 1 March 1987 – Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity was detectable in cultured macrophage monolayers of peripheral blood monocyte origin. Peripheral blood monocytes were isolated from patients with biopsy‐confirmed liver disease and healthy volunteers. Macrophage monolayers were prepared and incubated at 37°C. After 24 hr, the aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity and cellular protein concentration were assayed on cell homogenates.

Natalia Ulloa, Jorge Garrido, Flavio Nervi – 1 March 1987 – We have utilized ultracentrifugation of native bile‐Metrizamide density gradients to isolate a vesicular transport system or biliary lipids in both man and rat. We identified vesicular structures by electron microscopy. Fresh bile specimens were obtained from bile fistula rats (unsaturated bile) and from patients 1 week after bile duct surgery (supersaturated bile). Metrizamide was dissolved in bile (33% w/v), and continuous density gradients were performed with undiluted bile (density limits = 1.020 to 1.300 gm per ml).

Patricia Bernthal, Amy Hays, Ralph E. Tarter, David Van Thiel, James Lecky, Andrea Hegedus – 1 January 1987 – Forty‐nine nonalcoholic cirrhotic patients, on whom cranial CT scans were available, were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests. Although none of the subjects exhibited clinical signs or symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy, quantification of the CT scan image implicated cerebral edema and cortical atrophy. In addition numerous significant correlations were observed between the CT variables and neuropsychological test performance.

Alfredo Alberti, Patrizia Pontisso, Chii‐Shyan Lay, Yang‐Te Tsai, Kwang‐Juei Lo, Shou‐Dong Lee, Tseng‐Shing Chen, Fa‐Yauh Lee – 1 January 1987

L. Zieve, F. J. Zieve – 1 January 1987 – The conventional animal model of human portal systemic encephalopathy is the dog with Eck fistula. Dogs fed standard dog chow after Eck fistula manifest anorexia, weight loss, hepatic atrophy and encephalopathy. This study was done to determine the natural history of dogs undergoing Eck fistulas when adequate nutrition is maintained with a palatable diet.

Ralph I. Horwitz, Donald R. Bordley – 1 January 1987 – Two specialists in nuclear medicine and two trainees independently read 106 liver scans for abnormalities suggestive of metastases. The four observers made a positive diagnosis with a significantly different frequency. The overall agreement between pairs of observers was 0.83–0.87. After adjusting for the expected chance agreement, K‐values between 0.66 and 0.74 were obtained. No difference was found in the level of agreement between the two specialists or between the two trainees.

James L. Boyer – 1 January 1987 – The discovery that bile canaliculi are capable of spontaneous contractile activity has led to their use in the investigation of the physiology of the liver cell. The contraction of a bile canaliculus is dependent on the network of actin, which is found in the pericanalicular region of the hepatocyte, and agents that inhibit actin filaments interfere with canalicular contraction. Injection of calcium directly into the cytoplasm of one hepatocyte of a cell pair results in contraction of the canaliculus.

Fernando Alvarez, Daniel Alagille – 1 January 1987 – To determine the frequency of biochemical vitamin E deficiency and of the clinical signs of the vitamin E deficiency neurologic syndrome in children with prolonged neonatal cholestatic disorders, we studied 46 children (aged 1 month to 17.0 years) with chronic forms of intrahepatic neonatal cholestasis and 47 children (aged 4 months to 8.0 years) with extrahepatic biliary atresia.

Richard A. Kozarek, Harold O. Conn – 1 January 1987 – Five patients with benign strictures of the biliary tract were treated by Gruntzig balloon dilation during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. All of the strictures were effectively dilated. One patient with a retained stone in the proximal biliary tree underwent surgery 3 weeks after the dilation because of cholangitis. The other four patients were well at a mean follow‐up of 6 months. There were no complications related to the procedure.