Hepatitis B Virus Infection: The Impact of Molecular Biology

Sheila Sherlock, Howard C. THomas – 1 January 1983 – Assays for the detection of nucleic acid in serum are likely to be better systems for determining infectivity than indirect ones dependent on detection of virus‐encoded proteins such as HBeAg. The hybridization assays are particularly useful in monitoring spontaneous or treatment‐related conversion from the “replicative” to “nonreplicative” phase of HB V infection.

Massive Blastic Infiltration of the Liver: A Cause of Fulminant Hepatic Failure

Elie S. Zafrani, Bernard Leclercq, Jean‐Paul Vernant, Yvon Pinaudeau, Guy Chomette, Daniel Dhumeaux – 1 January 1983 – The clinical and pathological findings in four cases of fulminant hepatic failure due to massive infiltration of the liver by acute leukemia or lymphoma are reported. Liver abnormalities were found simultaneously with or led to the discovery of hematologic malignancies, and consisted of marked hepatomegaly and severe hepatocellular insufficiency associated with hyperlactatemia. The blood malignancies were peculiar in their fast cellular growth and large tumor mass.

Abnormal Glucuronidation of Zomepirac in Patients with Cirrhosis of the Liver

Felix Witassek, Johannes Bircher, Philipp Huguenin, Rudolf Preisig – 1 January 1983 – The disposition of zomepirac was investigated in 18 patients with various liver diseases and in 10 healthy normal subjects in order to further test the hypothesis that glucuronidation of drugs may be spared in liver disease. Severity of the liver disease was assessed by the galactose elimination capacity. Following oral administration of zomepirac (200 mg), plasma and urinary drug concentrations were measured by high‐pressure liquid chromatography. Urine was assayed before and after alkaline hydrolysis.

Cholic Acid Amelioration of Light and Electron Microscopic Hepatic Lesions in Experimental Protoporphyria

Jay H. Lefkowitch, Kuo‐Ching Feng‐Chen, Jeffrey A. Sklar, Maureen B. Poh‐Fitzpatrick – 1 January 1983 – We studied the effects of cholic acid treatment on hepatic histology and ultrastructure in mice with griseofulvin‐induced protoporphyria. After 5 weeks of feeding griseofulvin alone, control mice developed darkly pigmented livers which by light microscopy showed birefringent, brown pigment deposits in bile ducts and ductules, sinusoidal Kupffer cell aggregates, and occasionally in hepatocytes and bile canaliculi.

Increased Synthesis of Rat Liver Alkaline Phosphatase by Bile Duct Ligation

Marshall M. Kaplan, Akiyuki Ohkubo, Elaine G. Quaroni, Duncan Sze‐Tu – 1 January 1983 – The following studies were done to determine the mechanism of the increse in rat liver alkaline phosphatase activity after bile duct ligation. Antiserum was raised in rabbits to highly purified rat liver alkaline phosphatase. In immune titration experiments, the 350% increase in rat liver alkaline phosphatase activity caused by bile duct ligation was paralleled by a similar increase in immuno‐precipitated alkaline phosphatase protein.

Plasma Lipid and Lipoprotein Response to Fat Feeding in Alcoholic Liver Disease

Alec Avgerinos, Peter Chu, Charles Greenfield, David S. Harry, Neil Mcintyre – 1 January 1983 – Serum lipids and lipoproteins were analyzed after an overnight fast, and following a fatty meal in 10 patients with cirrhosis, 5 with fatty liver, and 5 normal subjects. Cirrhotic patients were divided into two groups of five on the basis of serum lecithin‐cholesterol acyltransferase activity. Fasting triglyceride levels were similar in all four groups.

An Analysis of the Composition of the Inflammatory Infiltrate in Autoimmune and Hepatitis B Virus‐Induced Chronic Liver Disease

Luis Montano, Fernando Aranguibel, Margarita Boffill, Alison H. Goodall, George Janossy, Howard C. Thomas – 1 January 1983 – The composition of the mononuclear cell infiltrate in the liver was studied in patients with autoimmune and hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐induced liver disease. The ratio of inducer to cytotoxic/ suppressor cells was greater in patients with lupoid chronic active liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, and HBeAb positive HBV‐induced chronic active liver disease than in patients with HBeAg positive HBV‐induced chronic hepatitis.

In Vivo and Electron Microscopic Observations of the Hepatic Micro vasculature in the Rat Following Portacaval Anastomosis

Robert S. Mccuskey, Franz J. Vonnahme, Martin Grun – 1 January 1983 – The livers of rats subjected to end‐to‐side portacaval anastomoses were studied 3 to 5 months postoperatively by in vivo and electron microscopy. Compared with sham‐operated controls, the livers of portacaval anastomoses animals contained dilated, tortuous networks of sinusoids. The velocity of blood flow in these vessels tended to be slower and more variable than controls, but always progressed toward the hepatic venules.

Subscribe to