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).

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.

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.

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.

Michael Phillips, Laurence M. Cummins – 1 May 1988 – Recent studies have demonstrated that commercial preparations of hepatitis B immune globulin often contain antibody to the human immunodeficiency virus. The presence of this antibody has aroused concerns that treatment with hepatitis B immune globulin might passively induce human immunodeficiency virus antibody seropositivity, leading to incorrect diagnoses of human immunodeficiency virus exposure.

Min Chan Lai, Myron J. Tong, Marek J. Nowicki, Shou‐Dong Lee – 1 May 1988 – Seventy HBsAg‐positive patients, including 24 with primary hepatocellular carcinoma, 34 with chronic active hepatitis, 12 with chronic persistent hepatitis and 30 asymptomatic healthy hepatitis B virus carriers were tested for anti‐HBc IgM using the Corzyme‐M test. Anti‐HBc IgM was detected in 50% of the primary hepatocellular carcinoma patients, 26.5% of the chronic active hepatitis patients, 25% of the chronic persistent hepatitis patients, but in none of the healthy hepatitis B virus carriers.

Jen‐Yang Chen, Tim J. Harrison, Chue‐Shue Lee, Ding‐Shinn Chen, Arie J. Zuckerman – 1 May 1988 – We have previously reported an analysis of DNA extracted from 31 primary liver tumors where, in 25 cases, we found chromosomal integration of hepatitis B virus DNA sequences. We describe here an investigation of the extent of the viral genome at each integration site in 15 of the hepatitis B virus DNA‐positive tumors using subgenomic fragments of the viral genome as probes.

Joachim Limmer, Wolfgang E. Fleig, Dorothea Leupold, Reinhard Bittner, Hans Ditschuneit, Hans‐Günter Berger – 1 May 1988 – Patients suffering from Type I glycogen storage disease frequently develop hepatic tumors. Some of these were classified as carcinoma, with the majority of tumors representing benign adenomata. However, no evidence exists of malignant transformation of adenomata in these patients.

Mark E. Marotto, Ronald G. Thurman, John J. Lemasters – 1 May 1988 – Trypan blue uptake and lactate dehydrogenase release were measured as indices of irreversible cell damage in isolated, perfused rat livers during low‐flow hypoxia. In livers from fasted rats perfused in the anterograde direction, trypan blue uptake took place beginning at about 45 min of hypoxia. Cells which took up trypan blue first were located in narrow bands at the border between anoxic pericentral areas and normoxic periportal regions of the liver lobule.

Mauro Pirovino, Otfried Müller, Thomas Zysset, Ueli Honegger – 1 May 1988 – Morphological and biochemical investigations were performed in guinea pigs after 1, 3, 5 and 16 weeks of amiodarone feeding. The most prominent morphological finding was an increase in dense bodies in hepatocytes, Kupffer cells and in bile duct epithelia, reaching a maximum after 5 weeks of treatment according to morphometric analysis. Similar time courses were observed for the serum and liver tissue concentrations of amiodarone and desethylamiodarone and the—albeit minimal—extent of hepatocellular necrosis.