Alan F. Hofmann, Paul A. Kantrowitz – 1 January 1983

J. Thomas Lamont, Allen S. Ventola, Bruce W. Trotman, Roger D. Soloway – 1 January 1983 – Mucin glycoproteins, a secretory product of the gallbladder, are thought to contribute to the matrix or nucleus of gallstones. Human black pigment stones originate in the gallbladder and have as their major constituent calcium bilirubinate, as well as inorganic salts and small amounts of cholesterol. The object of this study was to estimate the amount of glycoprotein in black pigment stones and to isolate gallbladder mucin from dissolved stones.

Peter Ferenci, David Covell, Daniel F. Schafer, Jeanne G. Waggoner, Richard Shrager, E. Anthony Jones – 1 January 1983 – The serum concentration of 7‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) has been found to be elevated by more than an order of magnitude in a rabbit model of acute hepatic failure. A potential mechanism for increased serum GABA levels in liver failure is decreased catabolism of GABA.

Giovambattista, Rosa Giovanna Simonetti, Antonio Craxí, Sonia Di Piazza, Caterina Spanó, Luigi Pagliaro – 1 January 1983 – Two hundred and twenty‐four consecutive inpatients with cirrhosis, mostly of nonalcoholic etiology, and ascites were prospectively investigated on admission for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) by culture, smear, and polymorphonuclear (PMN) counts of ascitic fluid. Positive cultures were found in 54 patients. A possible intraabdominal source of infection was apparent in five of them, all with clinically overt peritonitis (secondary peritonitis).

1 January 1983

Kenichi Kobayashi, Kenichi Fukuoka, Fumiaki Matsushita, Hideo Morimoto, Yoshinobu Hinoue, Hideo Honjo, Nobuyoshi Tanaka, Tatsuho Sugimoto, Yasuhiro Kato, Nobu Hattori, Shigeharu Ueda, Shiro Kato – 1 January 1983 – Woodchuck hepatocellular carcinoma has been successfully transplanted into nude (athymic) mice. The morphology of heterotransplanted tumor is similar to that of naturally occurring hepatocellular carcinoma before transplantation. The growth rate of transplanted tumor was very slow compared with those of other transplanted tumors. During the first month, only two tumors appeared.

Clifford J. Steer, Doris A. Wall, Gilbert Ashwell – 1 January 1983 – Coated vesicles were isolated from rat liver by a modification of the procedure described by Nandi et al. for bovine brain (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1982; 79:5881–5885). The hepatic receptor for asialoglycoproteins was shown to be an integral constitutent of these vesicles as evidenced by their ability to bind 125I‐asialo‐orosomucoid in a specific and saturable manner.

Thomas S. Edgington – 1 January 1983

Poul Schlichting, Erik Christensen, Per K. Andersen, Lis Fauerholdt, Erik Juhl, Hemming Poulsen, Niels Tygstrup, THE COPENHAGEN STUDY GROUP FOR LIVER DISEASES – 1 January 1983 – In a controlled clinical trial in 488 patients with chronic liver disease treated with prednisone or placebo, survival data were analyzed using Cox's proportional hazards model. A total of 162 variables were screened separately for prognostic and/or therapeutic effect by log‐rank analyses, whereby 46 clinical, biochemical, serological, and histological variables were isolated.

Scheffer C. G. Tseng, Edward A. Smuckler, Robert Stern – 1 January 1983 – Collagen formation is an important function of liver parenchymal cells that may be relevant to the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis. The types of collagen synthesized by cultured normal rat liver hepatocytes were examined. Cells isolated from adult rats by enzymatic dispersion of the liver were established in primary monolayer culture. Cells were then incubated with radiolabeled proline for 20 hr in the presence of ascorbate and the lathrogen β‐aminopropionitrile.