T J Liang – 1 December 1996

T Fukumoto, T Berg, Y Ku, W O Bechstein, M Knoop, H Lemmens, H Lobeck, U Hopf, P Neuhaus – 1 December 1996 – The pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is likely to be associated with viral replication in vivo, but little is known concerning the dynamics of HCV turnover. We performed serial measurements of serum HCV‐RNA levels following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in nine patients with HCV‐positive cirrhosis. Serum HCV‐RNA levels were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction before, immediately after, and for up to 1 month after OLT.

A Mason, R Sallie, R Perrillo, A Rayner, L Xu, D E Dohner, M Dehner, N Naoumov, L Gelb, B Saha, J O'Grady, R Williams – 1 December 1996 – Members of the herpes virus family and hepatitis B virus (HBV) have been implicated as etiologic agents in non‐A, non‐B (NANB) fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), but the frequency of infection with these agents has not been established using appropriate controls. To examine this issue, we studied 50 NANB FHF patients and 104 liver transplant recipients from North America and Europe.

M Rumi, E Del Ninno, M L Parravicini, R Romeo, R Soffredini, M F Donato, J Wilber, A Russo, M Colombo – 1 December 1996 – To compare the long‐term effectiveness and tolerability of lymphoblastoid interferon (IFN‐αN1) and recombinant interferon alfa 2a (IFN‐α2a) in patients with chronic hepatitis caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV), 234 consecutive patients with HCV‐related chronic hepatitis were randomized prospectively to receive titrated doses (starting dose = 6 million units [MU]) of IFN‐α2a (n = 118) or IFN‐αN1 (n = 116) for 12 months.

M Morales‐Ruiz, W Jimenez, D Perez‐Sala, J Ros, A Leivas, S Lamas, F Rivera, V Arroyo – 1 December 1996 – Arterial vasodilatation is thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of systemic hemodynamics and renal disturbances occurring in cirrhotic patients. Recent investigations suggest that an increased vascular nitric oxide (NO) production could be implicated in this abnormality. The current study assessed whether increased expression of inducible and/or endothelial nitric oxide synthase (iNOS and eNOS, respectively) occurs in arterial vessels of cirrhotic rats.

M V St‐Pierre, J Dufour, I M Arias – 1 December 1996 – The second messenger, cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), mediates the actions of nitric oxide, natriuretic peptides, and microbial toxins on cellular contractility and electrolyte movement. Because both hepatocellular contractility and electrolyte secretion participate in bile formation, we investigated the actions of cGMP on this process in intact liver. In rat liver perfused with 8‐bromo‐cyclic GMP (bcGMP) at 0.5 and 3 micromol/min, bile flow increased by 5% and 31%, respectively.

H Hsu, M Chang, R Hsieh, Y Ni, W Chi – 1 December 1996 – The immune responses to hepatitis B vaccine were studied in 11 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier children who had cleared HBsAg but failed to develop hepatitis B surface antigen antibodies (anti‐HBs) in sera (group 1), 5 HBsAg carrier children who had cleared HBsAg and developed detectable anti‐HBs in sera (group 2), and 5 healthy subjects seronegative for all hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers (group 3). After receiving three doses of HB vaccine, group 1 subjects failed to develop detectable anti‐HBs.

A D Branch – 1 December 1996 – Antisense pharmaceutical research has sought to provide drugs that would yield effective therapies for diseases resulting from the production of deleterious proteins. The original concept was straightforward: eliminate production of unwanted proteins, such as oncogenic proteins, by blocking the function of their mRNAs; and block their mRNAs by adding “antisense” nucleic acids that bind them through complementary base pairing. However, it has proven difficult to develop clinically useful antisense strategies.

M E Schwartz – 1 December 1996

A Pares, R Deulofeu, A Gimenez, L Caballeria, M Bruguera, J Caballeria, A M Ballesta, J Rodes – 1 December 1996 – The high levels of hyaluronic acid (HA), a glycosaminoglycan of the liver extracellular matrix, which is synthesized and degraded in the liver sinusoidal cells, have been related with a decreased function of the endothelial sinusoidal cells.