Cyrus R. Kapadia – 1 January 1989

Charles D. Surh, Dean J. Danner, Aftab Ahmed, Ross L. Coppel, Ian R. Mackay, E. Rolland Dickson, M. Eric Gershwin – 1 January 1989 – Antimitochondrial autoantibodies recognizing 68 to 74 and 50 to 52 kD inner membrane mitochondrial antigens are characteristically present in sera of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. The biochemical identification of the antigens, however, has remained elusive. We report herein that the 52 kD antigen is the dihydrolipoamide acyltransferase of the branched‐chain α‐keto acid dehydrogenase complex.

Jenny Heathcote, Young‐In Kim, Colina K. Yim, James Lebrocq, Stanley E. Read – 1 January 1989 – Basal levels of the interferon‐associated enzyme 2′,5′‐oligoadenylate synthetase were studied in lymphocytes of 46 patients with acute viral hepatitis and in 46 patients with chronic hepatitis B. Measurement of in vitro production of 2′,5′‐oligoadenylate synthetase following overnight incubation of lymphocytes with exogenous interferon was used to assess functional capacity of the lymphocyte interferon system.

Jorge J. Gumucio – 1 January 1989

Anna S. F. Lok, Ching‐Lung Lai – 1 January 1989 – Two hundred ninety patients (203 men, 87 women), age 7 to 74 years (mean: 39.1 years), with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, were prospectively followed for a period of 1 to 4 years to determine the value of α‐fetoprotein monitoring in the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma. At presentation, 66% of the patients were asymptomatic, 19% had chronic hepatitis and 15% had established cirrhosis.

1 November 1988

Toru Nakano, Jiro Yanagisawa, Fumio Nakayama – 1 November 1988 – To investigate the importance of bacterial infection in the formation of free fatty acids found in brown pigment gallstones, free fatty acids and phospholipase activity in hepatic bile, with or without the presence of bacterial infection, were compared. The concentration of free fatty acids in bile with bacterial infection [0.467 ± 0.447 mg per ml (mean ± S.D.)] was significantly higher than when bacterial infection was absent (0.073 ± 0.041 mg per ml; p < 0.01).

David H. Adams, David Burnett, Robert A. Stockley, Stefan G. Hubscher, Paul McMaster, Elwyn Elias – 1 November 1988 – β2‐Microglobulin, which is associated with HLA class 1 antigens, was assayed in bile and serum from 19 patients following 22 liver transplants. Serum levels were elevated in all posttransplant patients irrespective of the presence of rejection. In contrast, biliary levels were significantly higher during episodes of acute rejection compared with posttransplant cholangitis (p < 0.01), stable graft function (p < 0.0001) and nontrans‐plant samples (p < 0.0001).

Harry A. Cynamon, Karyl Norcross, J. Nevin Isenberg – 1 November 1988 – To assess the effect of chronic cholestasis and vitamin E deficiency on nervous system function, we did multimodality evoked potential testing of 17 children (mean age = 47 months) who had chronic liver disease. Evoked potential testing was repeated periodically in 11 patients 1 to 33 months after the initial study.

John M. Porter, Marc S. Sussman, Gerald M. Rosen – 1 November 1988 – A patient with hepatonecrosis associated with cocaine use is presented. Postmortem examination of the liver showed marked periportal inflammation and necrosis, and mild diffuse fatty infiltration. These pathologic findings are identical to those previously reported in a mouse model of cocaine hepatotoxicity.