Marek J. Nowicki, Myron J. Tong, Prem V. Nair, Douglas Stevenson – 1 November 1984 – The effect of a short course of prednisone therapy on serum IgM type antibody to the hepatitis B core antigen (anti‐HBc IgM) was studied in 14 male patients with chronic active type B hepatitis. Eleven patients (78.5%) became positive for serum anti‐HBc IgM either during or shortly after prednisone withdrawal. Detection of anti‐HBc IgM correlated with an increase in hepatitis B virus specific DNA‐polymerase activity and was followed by a rise in serum transaminase levels.

E. Anthony Jones, Daniel F. Schafer, Peter Ferenci, S. Chris Pappas – 1 November 1984

Charles S. Davidson, Richard L. Veech – 1 November 1984

William H. Dietz – 1 November 1984

Daniela Zauli, Marco Fusconi, Cristina Crespi, Francesco B. Bianchi, Antonio Craxi, Emilio Pisi – 1 November 1984 – Antibodies reacting in immunofluorescence with the basal cell layer of rat forestomach (BCLA) have been detected in 36 of 121 (30%) hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐mediated chronic liver disease (CLD), in 1 of 30 (3%) HBV‐negative CLD, in 3 of 36 (8%) alcoholic liver disease (with no correlation with serum HBV markers), in 1 of 25 (4%) primary biliary cirrhosis, in none of 19 HBV‐related HBsAg‐negative CLD and 60 healthy blood donors.

George Y. Wu, Catherine H. Wu, Vincent A. Rifici, Richard J. Stockert – 1 November 1984 – The responsiveness of low density lipoprotein (LDL) binding and uptake was measured in a human hepatoblastoma cell line, Hep G2. These cells exhibited both saturable, high‐affinity and nonsaturable low‐affinity components similar to that described for LDL binding in other mammalian cells. In addition, receptor‐mediated uptake of [125I]LDL was dependent on the presence of Ca++ and required intact lysine residues in LDL as evidenced by abolition of binding following reductive methylation of LDL.

Henry S. Pohl – 1 November 1984

Jaime Bosch, Ricardo Masti, David Kravetz, Jordi Bruix, Joan Gaya, Joaquin Rigau, Joan Rodes – 1 November 1984 – The effects of propranolol on blood flow through gastroesophageal collaterals and on systemic and hepatic hemodynamies were investigated in 23 cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension. Gastroesophageal collateral blood flow was evaluated by the measurement of azygos venous blood flow by continuous thermal dilution.

Hideki Ohkubo, Kunio Okuda – 1 November 1984 – The nicotinic acid test was performed in 5 patients with Dubin‐Johnson syndrome, 5 with Rotor syndrome and 13 with Gilbert's syndrome. The increment in serum bilirubin concentration and bilirubin retention 5 hr later differed; the proportion of conjugated bilirubin in the increment of total bilirubin in Dubin‐Johnson and Rotor syndromes was greater than in Gilbert's syndrome. These observations suggest that the nicotinic acid test reflects, in part, impaired biliary excretion of conjugated bilirubin.

Helmut K. Seitz, Siegrid Veith, Peter Czygan, Johann Bösche, Bernd Simon, Roland Gugler, Burkhard Kommerell – 1 November 1984 – The influence of a 7‐day medication of either cimetidine (1,000 mg per day) or ranitidine (300 mg per day) on serum ethanol concentrations after a single oral dose of ethanol (0.8 gm per kg body weight) was investigated in a randomized placebo‐controlled study in eight male volunteers. Compared with the placebo, cimetidine but not ranitidine produced a significant increase in both the peak serum ethanol concentration (85.9 ± 3.5 vs.