Osamu Yokosuka, Masao Omata, Fumio Imazeki, Kunio Okuda, Jesse Summers – 1 September 1985 – Twenty patients with HBeAg‐positive chronic liver disease were given large doses of recombinant leukocyte interferon for 4 weeks. Changes of hepatitis B virus DNA in livers and sera were analyzed by the molecular hybridization technique in paired biopsies obtained before and 2 weeks after treatment. Serum hepatitis B virus DNA was examined before, during and after the treatment until 4 weeks post‐interferon.

Akinori Tsubouchi, Kentaro Yoshioka, Shinichi Kakumu – 1 September 1985 – Studies were undertaken to evaluate whether antiidiotypic antibody against antiliver‐specific membrane lipoprotein is related to the disease activity of patients with hepatitis. Sera from normal individuals, patients with viral hepatitis and medical staffs were depleted of antiliver‐specific membrane lipoprotein antibody by absorbing with liver‐specific membrane lipoprotein‐bearing cell line SK‐Hep‐1.

Adrian B. Bomford, Hamish N. Munro – 1 September 1985 – Transferrin, its receptor and the entry of iron into the cell have sprung into prominence because of recent evidence that proliferation of various cell types involves regulation of this sequence of events, as evidenced especially by changes in receptor number. A third component functionally linked to transferrin and its receptor is the intracellular iron‐storage protein, ferritin, which ensures against toxic levels of free ferrous iron, which might otherwise cause peroxidative damage to cell membranes and other cell structures (1).

Erik Christensen, Poul Schlichting, Lis Fauerholdt, Erik Juhl, Hemming Poulsen, Niels Tygstrup, The Copenhagen Study Group for Liver Diseases – 1 September 1985 – The time change of laboratory variables in cirrhosis was studied by analysis of data from 488 patients with cirrhosis included in a controlled clinical trial of long‐term prednisone vs. placebo.

David Westaby, Brian R. D. Macdougall, Roger Williams – 1 September 1985 – Long‐term follow‐up (median: 37 months; range: 19 to 68) of the 116 patients (56 sclerotherapy, 60 control group) entered into a controlled trial of endoscopic variceal sclerotherapy has shown a total of 18 deaths in the sclerotherapy group, including five from variceal bleeding compared with 32 deaths in the control group (p < 0.01), of which 25 were from variceal hemorrhage (p < 0.001). Survival as assessed by cumulative life analysis was significantly better in those treated by sclerotherapy (p < 0.001).

Wladimiro Jimenez, Albert Parés, Joan Caballería, Daniel Heredia, Meguel Bruguera, Miguel Torres, Marcos Rojkind, Joan Rodés – 1 September 1985 – Collagen content was measured in 38 needle liver biopsies (8 steatosis, 8 chronic hepatitis, 7 fibrosis and 15 cirrhosis) by a new colorimetric method based on the selective capacity of Sirius red and Fast green to bind to collagen and noncollagenous proteins, respectively. The values were compared with those obtained after determination of the degree of fibrosis by morphometry in the same tissue.

Carl A. Goresky, Glen G. Bach, Allan W. Wolkoff, Colin P. Rose, Daniel Cousineau – 1 September 1985 – The rapid, single injection, multiple indicator dilution technique has been, with suitable modeling of hepatic venous outflow curves, the standard approach for quantitative kinetic assessment of tracer cell entry and intracellular sequestration in the steady state, both in the in situ and the isolated perfused liver.

Fumio Imazeki, Masao Omata, Osamu Yokosuka, Yasuhisa Matsuyama, Yoshimi Ito, Kunio Okuda – 1 September 1985 – An assay for DNA polymerase reaction products using slab gel electrophoresis and autoradiography was compared with the spot hybridization technique for the detection of hepatitis B virus DNA in 317 blood samples. The former could identify the nature and size of DNA on electrophoresis, and reduce potentially false‐positive results due to artifacts.

Thomas L. Sell, Bruce A. Runyon, John C. Hoefs – 1 September 1985

David H. Van Thiel, Mahendra Udani, Robert R. Schade, Agit Sanghvi, Thomas E. Starzl – 1 September 1985 – The thyroid hormones T4, T3, rT3 and TSH were assayed in 134 adult patients evaluated and accepted as potential liver transplant candidates at the Universty of Pittsburgh from March, 1981 to December, 1983. The subsequent course of these patients was evaluated with respect to the levels of these hormones obtained at the time of acceptance for transplantation.