Ronald J. Sokol – 1 April 1989

I‐Shyan Sheen, Yun‐Fan Liaw – 1 April 1989 – To investigate the prevalence and incidence of cholecystolithiasis in hepatitis B surface antigen‐positive chronic liver diseases, a prospective study using hepatobiliary ultrasonography was conducted in 933 “healthy” persons and four groups of HBsAg‐positive patients: 226 asymptomatic carriers, 73 patients with chronic active hepatitis, 77 patients with early liver cirrhosis and 124 patients with advanced liver cirrhosis. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or alcoholism were excluded.

Teresa L. Wright – 1 April 1989 – We present evidence that normal hepatocytes can be specifically protected from galactosamine toxicity in vitro by targeting an antagonist to these cells via receptor‐mediated endocytosis.

Hiroshi Takahashi, Mehmet Ozturk, Byron Wilson, Atsuhiko Maki, Kazue Ozawa, Mitsuru Koizumi, Keigo Endo, William Strauss, Daniel Shouval, Jack Wands – 1 April 1989 – We are investigating the antigenic changes on the cell surface of human hepatocytes that distinguish the normal from the transformed phenotype using monoclonal antibodies. In vivo expression of antigens has been directly assessed by in situ radioimmunohistology.

Christian D. H. Oakland, Rosemary Hickman, John Terblanche – 1 April 1989 – The aminopyrine breath test has been performed on Day 1 and Day 7 in pigs following experimental liver allografting. The results show that at 24 hr after surgery there was a significant reduction in liver function in all animals as measured by the elimination rate constant of 14CO2 in the breath. This was very profound in the group that died within 5 days (0.09 ± 0.01 hr−1) and was significantly different from the group that survived (0.16 ± 0.01 hr−1).

Christof Zimmermann, Peter Ferenci, Christian Pifl, Cihan Yurdaydin, Josef Ebner, Hans Lassmann, Erich Roth, Heide Hörtnagl – 1 April 1989 – An imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory amino acid‐ergic neurotransmission has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy. For further evaluation of this hypothesis, several parameters of amino acid‐ergic neurotransmission were studied in rats with acute liver failure induced by the administration of 300 mg per kg thioacetamide by gavage on two consecutive days.

Carolin Erika Schriever, Dieter Jüngst – 1 April 1989 – Rapid aggregation of cholesterol‐phospholipid vesicles in gallbladder bile seems to be the first event in the production of cholesterol crystals, a prerequisite for cholesterol gallstone formation. We examined the amount of these vesicles in 33 human gallbladder biles in relation to biliary lipid composition and to the presence of cholesterol crystals. Biliary microscopy detected cholesterol crystals in all 19 biles from patients with cholesterol gallstones but in none of 14 biles from patients with pigment stones.

Dale C. Snover, Sally Weisdorf, Joseph Bloomer, Philip McGlave, Daniel Weisdorf – 1 March 1989 – Liver disease in the early period following bone marrow transplantation may be due to a number of causes, including pretransplant cytoreduction with chemotherapy and irradiation. Although the relationship of veno‐occlusive disease to these agents has been well established, another process, nodular regenerative hyperplasia, may also occur.

Sheri M. Krams, Charles D. Surh, Ross L. Coppel, Aftab Ansari, Boris Ruebner, M. Eric Gershwin – 1 March 1989 – The availability of recombinant mitochondrial autoantigens may permit the experimental study of the pathophysiology of primary biliary cirrhosis. Previously, we demonstrated that high‐titer antibodies to the 74 kD mitochondrial autoantigen dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase could be generated when BALB/c mice were immunized with purified recombinant protein.

Bruce R. Bacon, Robert S. Britton, Rosemary O'Neill – 1 March 1989 – Peroxidative decomposition of organelle membrane phospholipids with subsequent organelle dysfunction is a postulated mechanism of liver cell injury in parenchymal iron overload. We studied the effects of different α‐tocopherol concentrations on hepatic mitochondrial lipid peroxidation and oxidative metabolism in rats with chronic dietary iron overload.