P Andreone, C Cursaro, A Gramenzi, C Zavaglia, I Rezakovic, E Altomare, R Severini, J S Franzone, O Albano, G Ideo, M Bernardi, G Gasbarrini – 1 October 1996 – It has recently been shown that thymosin‐α1(T‐α1), a synthetic polypeptide of thymic origin, is able to promote disease remission and inhibition of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication in patients affected by hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐positive chronic active hepatitis. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of T‐α1 treatment in patients with hepatitis B e antibody (anti‐HBe) and HBV‐DNA‐positive chronic hepatitis.

M Tanaka, O Nakashima, Y Wada, M Kage, M Kojiro – 1 October 1996 – A pathomorphological study was conducted to clarify the localization of Kupffer cells in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and such hyperplastic nodular lesions as adenomatous hyperplasia (AH) and focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH). Materials were surgical specimens of 50 HCCs, 7 AHs, and 13 FNHs. These tissues were immunohistochemically stained with an anti‐human macrophage antibody (anti‐CD68 antibody).

D Byron, G Y Minuk – 1 October 1996 – To dispel the common notion that the practice of hepatology in North America largely consists of the care of middle‐aged male patients with alcohol‐induced liver disease, and, in the process, provide undergraduate and postgraduate students with a clearer picture of what patient profiles might resemble in an urban, hospital‐based hepatology practice, 1,226 charts derived from referrals between July 1, 1987, and January 1, 1994, were retrospectively reviewed for the following information: year of referral, age and sex of the patient, practice of the refer

J M Crawford – 1 October 1996

S Günther, S Baginski, H Kissel, P Reinke, D H Krüger, H Will, H Meisel – 1 October 1996 – In renal transplant recipients, chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection often leads to cirrhosis and liver failure. In this study, we investigated whether or not in these patients viral variants would emerge despite immunosuppression, and whether they are associated with a specific course of liver disease. In a population of 552 renal transplant recipients hepatitis B 24 surface antigen (HBsAg)‐positive patients were available for a 2‐year follow‐up.

K Roelsgaard, H E Bøtker, H Stødkilde‐Jørgensen, F Andreasen, S L Jensen, S Keiding – 1 October 1996 – We wished to study the effects of intravenous glucose/ insulin infusion to brain‐dead pigs on the hepatic glycogen content. Four groups of 40‐ kg pigs were studied: brain‐dead and control pigs given isotonic saline or glucose/insulin (7.5 mg glucose/kg/min, 1.25 mU insulin/kg/ min) (n = 5 to 10 in each group). Brain death was induced by inflating a balloon placed in the epidural space.

D Barisani, M Wessling‐Resnick – 1 October 1996 – The uptake of nontransferrin‐bound iron by hepatocytes is known to occur and may contribute to the deposition of iron and resulting injury during hemochromatosis. To examine the proteins that may function in the transport of nontransferrin‐bound iron, the properties of FeNTA‐ binding to rat liver basolateral plasma membranes were characterized. The binding of 55FeNTA to purified liver basolateral plasma membranes was measured using a simple centrifugation assay.

N Buyssens, M M Kockx, A G Herman, J Lazou, K Van den Berg, E Wisse, A Geerts – 1 October 1996 – During a study on the development of atheromatous lesions in rabbits fed a diet with a low or high cholesterol supplement, we found a moderate to pronounced centrolobular liver fibrosis. This fibrosis developed in three stages. Early after supplementation of cholesterol, we observed increased immunoreactivity of collagen types I, III, and IV, and fibronectin, around central veins and in adjacent sinusoids.

M Niederberger, P Gines, P Martin, P Tsai, K Morris, I McMurtry, R W Schrier – 1 October 1996 – Nitric oxide (NO) is postulated to play a role in the pathogenesis of arterial vasodilation in chronic portal hypertension. This present study investigates the relationship between systemic hemodynamics and the vascular production of NO, as estimated by measuring cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) in aortic tissue in two models of chronic portal hypertension in the rat: the partial portal vein ligation (PVL) model and CCl4‐induced cirrhosis.

N Bach – 1 October 1996