Biliary Proteins
Adrian Reuben – 1 September 1984 – The study of biliary proteins has grown enormously in the last 10 years. Although much has been recently learned about the nature, origin and hepatobiliary transport of these proteins, little is known of their function in bile or their effect on its physical state. This review will focus on description of the proteins and mechanisms by which they are secreted into bile.
Bile Formation: Sites and Mechanisms
Adrian Reuben – 1 September 1984
The Comparative Effect of Administration of Substances Via the Hepatic Artery or Portal Vein on Hepatic Arterial Resistance, Liver Blood Volume and Hepatic Extraction in Cats
W. Wayne Lautt, Dallas J. Legare, Timothy R. Daniels – 1 September 1984 – Compounds reaching the liver do so via either the hepatic artery or the portal vein. This paper reports on the effectiveness of administration of compounds into these alternate routes for their effects on the hepatic parenchymal cells, the hepatic arterial resistance vessels (blood flow) and hepatic capacitance (blood volume responses). All tests were done on cats under pentobarbital anesthesia.
UDP‐Glucuronyltransferase‐Catalyzed Deconjugation of Bilirubin Monoglucuronide
H. Theo M. Cuypers, El Terlen M. Haar, Peter L. M. Jansen – 1 September 1984 – Bilirubin monoglucuronide is rapidly deconjugated when incubated with UDP and rat liver microsomal preparations at pH 5.1.
Isolation, Culture and Characterization of Adult Human Hepatocytes from Surgical Liver Biopsies
Francois Ballet, Marie‐Elisabeth Bouma, Shu‐Ren Wang, Norma Amit, Jacqueline Marais, Recaredo Infante – 1 September 1984 – A technique is described for isolation and culture of adult human hepatocytes from surgical liver biopsies. The mean cell yield was 1.75 ± 107 cells per gm liver and viability averaged 80%. Hepatocytes were maintained in primary culture for about 10 days. Cell morphology and histochemical characteristics were similar to hepatocytes in vivo. Bile canaliculi were observed by electron microscopy.
Focused Discussion of Research Needs
1 September 1984
Evidence for a Nucleation Defect in Bile from Gallstone Patients
Steven Gallinger, P. Robert C. Harvey, Steven M. Strasberg – 1 September 1984 – When modern methods of estimating cholesterol saturation in bile were first applied to human bile samples, it seemed that a clear distinction could be made between normal and abnormal biles on the basis of cholesterol saturation. Supersaturation of bile with cholesterol appeared to be the only critical defect required for stone formation. A variety of evidence has now accumulated which indicates that a nucleation defect is also important.
Factors Influencing Cholesterol Nucleation in Bile
R. Thomas Holzbach – 1 September 1984 – Dilution induces structural alterations (i.e., vesicle formation) in the lipid particles of supersaturated human hepatic bile and in dilute model bile systems of comparable composition. These alterations strikingly increase both the degree and duration of metastable supersaturation. Concentrated normal human gallbladder bile also shows an increased but less striking degree and duration of metastability compared to comparable model biles.
Pit Cell‐Hepatocyte Contact in Autoimmune Hepatitis
Kenji Kaneda, Narito Kurioka, Shuichi Seki, Kenjiro Wake, Sukeo Yamamoto – 1 September 1984 – This is the first report to document pit cells in the human liver. These cells were identified by characteristic electron‐dense granules and rod‐cored vesicles. The granules of human pit cells were smaller in number and size than those of the rat. In the present case of autoimmune hepatitis, pit cells and conventional agranular lymphocytes migrated into hepatic parenchyma and contacted degenerating and immature hepatocytes.