William G. Rector, John C. Hoefs, Kenneth F. Hossack, Gregory T. Everson – 1 January 1988 – Six of 85 patients (7%) with alcoholic liver disease undergoing transhepatic portal pressure measurement had either stagnant (3 patients) or reversed (3 patients) portal blood flow documented by gentle hand injection of 1 to 2 ml of angiographic contrast. Portal blood flow was uniformly hepatopetal in 24 patients with nonalcoholic liver disease.

Peter Ferenci, Josef Ebner, Christof Zimmermann, Christian Kikuta, Erich Roth, Dieter Häussinger – 1 January 1988 – Sera of patients with hepatic encephalopathy strongly inhibit the specific binding of γ‐aminobutyric acid to synaptic membranes. In a previous study, this inhibition of specific γ‐aminobutyric acid binding was attributed to γ‐aminobutyric acid itself, and it was assumed that serum γ‐aminobutyric acid is increased 5‐ to 30‐fold in patients with hepatic encephalopathy. The findings of that study, however, were not confirmed by other analytical methods.

Francis L. Black – 1 January 1988 – A radiolabelled 50‐base oligonucleotide complementary with the measles virus gene encoding the nucleocapsid was used as a probe to identify persistent measles virus genome in the lymphocytes from patients with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis (AICAH). Positive hybrids were found in 12 of 18 patients, and correlated strongly with high antibody titers to measles. Among the 45 controls, positive hybrids were found in one patient with measles, 1 of 3 patients with lupus erythematosis and 2 of 4 patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis.

1 January 1988

Kenichi Kitani, Imre Zsolnai‐Nagy, Setsuko Kanai, Yuko Sato, Minoru Ohta – 1 January 1988 – The biliary excretion of intravenously injected ouabain and the diffusion constant of the lateral mobility of hepatocyte plasma membrane proteins were examined in control (saline‐treated) and spironolactone‐treated Wistar male rats of different ages (4, 14 to 15 and 24 months old). The biliary excretion of ouabain progressively decreased with age in control rats, the first 10‐min biliary recovery in 24‐month‐old animals being one‐third that of the youngest rats (4‐month‐old).

David D. Wilson, Howard S. Lowensohn – 1 January 1988 – This study developed the validated standards for a known viscosity method by obtaining consistent viscosity measurements with defined precision, reproducibility and sensitivity limits for canine hepatic bile. Size 75 Cannon‐Manning semimicro viscometers yielded the most precise viscosity measurements. With the development of proper handling methods for fresh bile samples, a precision defined by a coefficient of variation of ≤ ± 0.3% was obtained.

Owen Epstein – 1 January 1988 – The syndrome of primary biliary cirrhosis and limited scleroderma (the CREST syndrome) is described in 22 patients. The syndrome is expanded to include a serologic marker—the anticentromere antibody—and keratoconjunctivitis sicca. The acronym “PACK” (primary biliary cirrhosis, anticentromere antibody, CREST syndrome, and keratoconjunctivitis sicca) with “syndrome” is suggested to facilitate recall of the various components of this entity.

1 January 1988

Gaetanǒ Idéo, Giorgio Bellati, Edoardo Fesce, Daniela Grimoldi – 1 January 1988 – Propranolol has been reported to prevent the risk of hemorrhage in patients who survived episodes of variceal rupture. Since the first bleeding episode can be lethal, we did a prospective, randomized trial to see whether β‐blockers could also prevent the first hemorrhage.

Sien‐Sing Yang, Robin D. Hughes, Roger Williams – 1 January 1988 – The levels of endogenous serum digoxin‐like immunoreactive substances were investigated during development of encephalopathy in patients with fulminant hepatic failure. The 67 patients studied had varying degrees of hepatic failure as a result of viral hepatitis or paracetamol overdose. Serum levels of digoxin‐like immunoreactive substances were significantly increased in both viral hepatitis and paracetamol overdose, with mean values of 0.42 ± S.D.