Stephen Barnes – 1 September 1984 – Studies of bile salt structure using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X‐ray crystallography have suggested that micellar association of bile salts is a function of side chain length and of packing of the side chain and the steroid nucleus. Lanthanide NMR probe analysis has been used to determine the structure of what is probably the monomer of the bile salt glycocholate.

Peter Schurtenberger, Norman A. Mazer, Werner Känzig – 1 September 1984 – Using quasielastic light scattering, we investigated the formation of vesicles produced spontaneously by diluting a mixed micellar solution of bile salt and lecithin beyond the micellar phase boundary. The vesicles were nearly monodisperse, and their size varied between 120 to 500 A depending upon the dilution conditions. A systematic study of the dependence of the vesicle size upon the bile salt and lecithin concentration was made and interpreted in terms of a simple equilibrium model.

Josip P. Kratohvil – 1 September 1984 – The current state of the knowledge of the size and the aggregation numbers of micelles formed in solutions of bile salts was evaluated. The experimental techniques considered include static light scattering, sedimentation equilibrium, membrane osmometry, sedimentation velocity and transla‐tional diffusion. The theoretical background of each method is briefly discussed, the working equations are summarized, and the limitations of each technique are enumerated.

Bruce A. Runyon, John C. Hoefs, Carmen Viola, Lydia Viñeta, Jaime Bosch, Juan Rodés – 1 September 1984

Alan M. Leichtner, Monty Krieger, Alan L. Schwartz – 1 September 1984 – Low density lipoprotein (LDL) processing was investigated in a human hepatoma‐derived cell line, Hep G2. Hep G2 cells bound, internalized and degraded LDL via a saturable, high affinity (Kd — 2 ± 10−8M) pathway similar to that present in other mammalian cells. Although 80% of the uptake and degradation of 125I‐LDL was inhibited by 40‐fold excess native LDL, the same concentration of methylated LDL, which cannot bind to LDL receptors, had virtually no effect on processing.

Yves Deugnier, Véronique David, Pierre Brissot, Philippe Mabo, Damien Delamaire, Michel Messner, Michel Bourel, Jean‐Yves Legall – 1 September 1984 – α‐L‐fucosidase, a lysosomal enzyme which catabolizes fucoproteins, was studied in sera from 30 controls, 32 patients with primary hepatic carcinomas, 24 patients with secondary metastatic liver carcinomas and 36 patients with cirrhosis.

Aldo Roda, Adamo Fini – 1 September 1984 – The aqueous solubility and thermodynamic dissociation constants of a representative series of bile acids with varying numbers and configuration of nuclear hydroxyl substituents were determined. The pKa values were calculated by extrapolating pKa' values determined in solutions of aqueous methanol of different mole fractions at 25o C.

Martin C. Carey – 1 September 1984 – The number, position and orientation of nuclear OH substituents profoundly influence the equilibrium solubilities of undissociated bile acids in water. Estimates from several studies range from 5 × 10″8 for lithocholic acid to 1.6 × 10−3 Af for ursocholic acid at 37°C. Fully dissociated sodium bile salts are extremely soluble in water, attaining values as high as 1 to 2 M. However, ionized unconjugated bile salts are appreciably less soluble than their glycine and taurine conjugates.

Alan F. Hofmann – 1 September 1984 – A brief review is given of the chemistry of bile acids, emphasizing the relationship between chemical structure, physical properties and enterohepatic cycling of the major primary and secondary bile acids. Features of the enterohepatic circulation of primary and secondary bile acids in man are summarized. The effects of bile acid feeding on the composition of the enterohepatic circulation in man are reviewed. Methods for characterizing the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids in man are tabulated.

Steven M. Strasberg, P. Robert C. Harvey, Steven Gallinger – 1 September 1984 – Difficulties in obtaining proper bile samples are due to inaccessibility of the biliary tree and to distortions induced by sampling methods. One must be cognizant of the effects of diet on bile secretion and gallbladder motility. Experimental methods which interrupt the enterohepatic circulation or alter the intestinal migrating myoelectric complex induce spurious changes in bile flow and composition. Biliary tract pressure‐flow relationships must be maintained or the gallbladder will be made functionless.