William G. Rector, Gary C. Kanel, Jorge Rakela, Telfer B. Reynolds – 1 March 1985 – We examined β2‐microglobulin (B2MG) excretion, an index of tubular function, in patients with hepatorenal syndrome, in whom tubular function is generally regarded as normal. Urine B2MG was significantly higher in these patients than in control patients with normal serum creatinine concentration. Patients with high urine B2MG concentration had markedly higher serum bilirubin than did patients with normal values (31 ± 3 vs.

Karin E. Ljunggren, Manuel E. Patarroyo, Ronald Engle, Robert H. Purcell, John L. Gerin – 1 March 1985 – The prevalences of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis delta virus and hepatitis A virus infections were studied in two regions of Colombia. In Bogota, 10 of 53 patients with acute hepatitis were HBsAg positive and three of these were hepatitis D antigen positive. Hepatitis A virus was the major cause of acute hepatitis in this group. In 366 healthy controls from Bogota, 1.6% were HBsAg positive and 7.1% had at least one marker of HBV infection.

Edward Lebovics, Swan N. Thung, Fenton Schaffner, Paul W. Radensky – 1 March 1985 – We reviewed the clinical data and hepatic histologic findings of 25 patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome who underwent 29 liver biopsies. Our experience indicates that the only hepatic feature characteristic of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is serologic evidence of exposure to the hepatitis B virus. The most common histologic finding was macrovesicular steatosis.

Bruce A. Runyon, John C. Hoefs – 1 March 1985 – A retrospective analysis of 22 patients whose ascitic fluid had been analyzed prior to the onset of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, during infection and/or after treatment of peritonitis revealed that neither the ascitic fluid total protein nor the absolute ascitic fluid glucose changed during the infection or after treatment of the infection although the ascitic fluid/serum glucose ratio did decrease (p < 0.001) with infection.

Mario Baraldi, Gary W. Goldstein – 1 March 1985

Arnold N. Cohen, Jaime Kapitulnik, J. Donald Ostrow, Eugene A. Zenone, Cecile Cochrane, Lillian Celic, Heidemarie Cheney – 1 March 1985 – Jaundiced Gunn rats, treated with phenobarbital (60 mg per kg i.p. for 7 to 10 days) showed 25 and 36% decreases in mean plasma bilirubin levels in two experiments (p < 0.01). Kinetic studies with tracer 14C‐bilirubin revealed that there was no change in bilirubin turnover or total pool size due to phenobarbital, but a 49% increase in the hepatic pool and a 27% decrease in the cutaneous pool of bilirubin.

Shunichi Koga, Yasuji Miyata, Hiroshi Ibayashi – 1 March 1985 – To elucidate abnormalities in lipid metabolism in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), plasma lipoproteins and apoproteins were analyzed in 10 such patients. Lipoprotein X was present in sera from five of the patients. Another abnormal lipoprotein of slow α‐mobility on agarose gel electrophoresis was observed in sera of eight of the patients. The slow α‐lipoprotein was distributed in the range of densities between low density and high density lipoproteins and was rich in apoprotein E.

Anders Nyberg, Lars Lööf, Roger Hällgren – 1 March 1985 – Serum β2‐microglobulin (β2μ) was determined in 44 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and in 63 patients with other liver disorders. β2μ levels were elevated in PBC when compared with chronic persistent hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and noncirrhotic alcohol liver disease, but not in comparison with chronic active hepatitis and alcoholic liver cirrhosis. With the exception of chronic persistent hepatitis, all liver disorders had significantly increased serum concentrations of β2μ when compared with controls.

Armelle Foliot, Denise Glaise, Serge Erlinger, Christiane Guguen‐Guillouzo – 1 March 1985 – Taurocholate (TC) uptake by adult rat hepatocytes co‐cultured with other rat liver epithelial cells (RLEC) was studied comparatively to hepatocytes in primary culture. Cells were cultured on Petri dishes for desired times prior to measuring their ability to transport TC. TC uptake was linear for 150 sec in both culture conditions.

Neville R. Pimstone – 1 March 1985