Guido Piai, Livio Cipolletta, Max Claar, Giampiero Marone, Maria Antonietta Bianco, Giovanni Forte, Giuseppe Iodice, Daniele Mattera, Mauro Minieri, Pietro Rocco, Lorenzo Michele Santoro, Gabriele Mazzacca – 1 November 1988 – In this prospective, multicenter trial, 140 cirrhotic patients with no previous upper gastrointestinal bleeding and with esophageal varices endoscopically judged to be at high risk of hemorrhage were randomized to receive either sclerotherapy or conservative treatment for the prevention of first variceal bleeding. The end‐points of the study were bleeding and death.

Erica Villa, Grazia M. Baldini, Gian Paolo Rossini, Claudio Pasquinelli, Margherita Melegari, Elisabetta Cariani, Cristina Tata, Stefano Bellentani, Alberto Ferrari, Federico Manenti – 1 November 1988 – The hepatic cytosolic estrogen receptor content was measured in liver samples from patients with normal livers and from patients with nonalcoholic cirrhosis, alcoholic cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis. The estrogen receptor content of normal liver was 5.2 ± 3.5 fmoles per mg of cytosolic protein.

Philippe Mavier, Bernard Guigui, Anne‐Marie Preaux, Jean Rosenbaum, Marie‐Claude Lescs, Elie Serge Zafrani, Daniel Dhumeaux – 1 November 1988 – Hydrogen peroxide produced by stimulated phagocytic cells or during the metabolism of drugs, is toxic to various cell types. The aim of this study was to investigate its toxicity against normal vs. tumor rat hepatocytes.

Leonard B. Seeff – 1 November 1988 – The authors tested, by molecular hybridization, for hepatitis B virus DNA in serum specimens of 182 asymptomatic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) Greek carriers who were heterosexual partners of patients with acute hepatitis B (group A: 96 cases) or healthy subjects who were susceptible to hepatitis B (group B: 86 cases). The mean age (34.1 ± 10.4 vs. 33.9 ± 8.4 years) and the mean duration of sexual contact (6.9 ± 8.9 vs. 7.2 ± 6.3 years) were similar in the two groups of carriers.

Akio Shimizu, Kazuo Tarao, Shouji Takemiya, Masaoki Harada, Tohru Inoue, Tetsuo Ono – 1 November 1988 – Using a monoclonal antibody to bromodeoxyuridine, we studied the cell kinetics of human hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cirrhosis, chronic active hepatitis and alcoholic liver fibrosis. Specimens were taken either by biopsy or surgery and immediately incubated with 0.1% bromodeoxyuridine solution at 37°C for 45 min.

Eric Martini, Nisen Abuaf, Florence Cavalli, VÉRonique Durand, Catherine Johanet, Jean‐Claude Homberg – 1 November 1988 – A new autoantibody was detected by immunoprecipitation in the serum of 21 patients with chronic active hepatitis. The antibody reacted against a soluble cytosolic antigen in liver. The antibody was organ specific but not species specific and was therefore called antiliver cytosol antibody Type 1 (anti‐LC1). In seven of 21 cases, no other autoantibody was found; the remaining 14 cases had anti‐liver/kidney microsome antibody Type 1 (anti‐LKM1).

Layton F. Rikkers – 1 November 1988

Makoto Hashizume, Seigo Kitano, Keizo Sugimachi, Katsuo Sueishi – 1 November 1988 – The venous anatomy of the lower esophagus and upper stomach was studied in nine patients with portal hypertension and in five without, following infusion of a silicon rubber compound into vessels of the excised organs within whole tissues made transparent with methyl salicylate. Four venous channels were identified in normal tissues: intraepithelial, subepithelial superficial, deep submucosal and adventitial veins.

Sanford S. Singer, Mark R. Palmert, Michael D. Redman, Diane M. Leahy, Theresa C. Feeser, Mark J. Lucarelli, Linda S. Volkwein, Margie Bruns – 1 November 1988 – Here we describe the dopamine sulfotransferase activity of rat liver cytosol. With cytosol, 3′‐phosphoadeno‐sine‐5′‐phosphosulfate and dopamine Km values were 17.2 ± 4.1 and 22.4 ± 3.5 μM. Females possessed 23 to 37% of dopamine sulfotransferase levels, per gm liver, in males. DEAE‐Sephadex A‐50 chromatography resolved dopamine sulfotransferase activity to dopamine sulfotransferase I and dopamine sulfotransferase II.

Eben S. Fox, Peter Thomas, Selwyn A. Broitman – 1 November 1988 – While it is generally believed that hepatic clearance of lipopolysaccharide involves Kupffer cells, the mechanism involved has not been fully elucidated. This study assesses this phenomenon in terms of in vitro uptake and post‐uptake modification experiments with an 125I‐labeled Salmonella minnesota lipopolysaccharide. 125I‐Lipopolysaccharide was added to Kupffer cells in suspension cultures under a variety of conditions. In vitro uptake of 125I‐Lipopolysaccharide was not saturable up to concentrations of 33.33 μg per ml.