J Laurin, K D Lindor, J S Crippin, A Gossard, G J Gores, J Ludwig, J Rakela, D B McGill – 1 June 1996 – Non‐alcohol‐induced steatohepatitis (NASH) is characterized by elevated serum aminotransferase activities with hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and occasionally fibrosis that may progress to cirrhosis. No established treatment exists for this potentially serious disorder. Our aim was to conduct a pilot study to evaluate the safety and estimate the efficacy of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and clofibrate in the treatment of NASH.

F Kanai, Y Shiratori, Y Yoshida, H Wakimoto, H Hamada, Y Kanegae, I Saito, H Nakabayashi, T Tamaoki, T Tanaka, K Lan, N Kato, S Shiina, M Omata – 1 June 1996 – We have developed a recombinant replication‐defective adenovirus containing human α‐fetoprotein (AFP) promoter/enhancer to direct cell type‐specific expression of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSVtk) gene to AFP‐producing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells.

L Capocaccia, A F Attili, O Riggio – 1 June 1996

M Angelico – 1 June 1996

D Vrochides, V Papanikolaou, H Pertoft, A A Antoniades, P Heldin – 1 June 1996 – Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and endothelial cells of the liver sinusoids synthesize and degrade hyaluronan, respectively. The roles of these cell types in the biosynthesis and degradation of hyaluronan were studied during regeneration following partial hepatectomy. Pure cultures of HSC and liver endothelial cells (LEC) were obtained from regenerating liver at different stages using a Nycodenz gradient followed by discontinuous Percoll gradient.

J C Lopez‐Talavera, G Cadelina, J Olchowski, W Merrill, R J Groszmann – 1 June 1996 – A hyperdynamic circulatory state frequently is observed in portal hypertension with liver failure or extensive portal‐systemic shunting. Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF) causes marked hypotension in mammals by inducing nitric oxide synthesis and has been shown to play a role in the development of the hemodynamic changes observed in portal hypertension. Thalidomide selectively inhibits TNF production by enhancing messenger RNA degradation.

D Trinder, O Zak, P Aisen – 1 June 1996 – The hepatic uptake of transferrin‐bound iron by a nontransferrin receptor (NTR)‐mediated process was investigated using the human hepatoma cell line HuH7. Because HuH7 cells also acquire iron from transferrin by a receptor (TR)‐mediated process, TR expression was inhibited by transfecting the cells with a plasmid containing human TR complementary DNA in antisense orientation relative to a human cytomegalovirus promoter/enhancer element.

D H Adams, Q Liu – 1 June 1996 – The macroglide immunosuppressant FK506 is effective at preventing and reversing hepatic allograft rejection. The establishment of graft rejection is dependent upon an influx of lymphocytes from the circulation into the graft in response to locally secreted chemotactic factors. Thus, inhibition of lymphocyte migration might be an additional mode of action of FK506 that could block lymphocyte recruitment to rejecting liver allografts.

S K Acharya, S Dasarathy, T L Kumer, S Sushma, K S Prasanna, A Tandon, V Sreenivas, S Nijhawan, S K Panda, S K Nanda, M Irshad, Y K Joshi, S Duttagupta, R K Tandon, B N Tandon – 1 June 1996 – The profiles of patients with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) from developing countries have not been reported earlier. The current study was conducted prospectively, at a single tertiary care center in India, to document the demographic and clinical characteristics, natural course, and causative profile of patients with FHF as well as to define simple prognostic markers in these patients.

H W Horowitz, B Dworkin, G Forseter, R B Nadelman, C Connolly, B B Luciano, J Nowakowski, T A O'Brien, M Calmann, G P Wormser – 1 June 1996 – To evaluate the frequency, pattern, and severity of liver function test abnormalities in patients with Lyme disease associated with erythema migrans (EM), 115 individuals with no other identifiable cause for liver function test abnormalities who presented with EM between July 1990 and September 1993 were prospectively evaluated.