K D Lindor, J Hoofnagle, W C Maddrey, I E Mackay, E R Dickson – 1 March 1996

F Wong, A Logan, L Blendis – 1 March 1996 – Insulin has been shown to be vasodilatory and antinatriuretic and to stimulate sympathetic nervous activity independent of hypoglycemia in healthy normal subjects. It is hypothesized that hyperinsulinemia, which is commonly observed in cirrhosis, may in part be responsible for the systemic vasodilatation, sympathetic activation, and sodium retention in these patients.

A M Gressner, B Polzar, B Lahme, H Mannherz – 1 March 1996 – The induction of apoptosis of rat liver parenchymal cells (PC) by transforming growth factor β (TGF‐β)‐expressing transforming fat‐storing cells (FSC), i.e., myofibroblasts (MFB), was studied under culture conditions and compared with the apoptotic effect of human recombinant TGF‐β1. MFB were obtained by subculture of FSC.

J T Deng, M F Hoylaerts, E J Nouwen, M E De Broe, V O Van Hoof – 1 March 1996 – Membrane‐bound liver alkaline phosphatase (Mem‐LiALP, EC 3.1.3.1) is a high‐molecular‐mass liver alkaline phosphatase (ALP) present in metastatic, infiltrative and cholestatic liver disease. Shedding of hepatocyte plasma membrane fragments (LiPMF) is thought to be responsible for the appearance of Mem‐LiALP in the circulation. Several other membrane‐bound enzymes, such as γ‐glutamyltransferase (γ‐GT), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), and 5′‐nucleotidase (5′‐Nu) are present in the membrane of the shedded LiPMF.

E J Huang, T L Wright, J R Lake, C Combs, L D Ferrell – 1 March 1996 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are common complications after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), but the liver pathology and clinical outcomes of HBV infection with HCV coinfection have not been thoroughly examined. In this study, we used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect HBV and HCV in pre‐ and post‐OLT sera of 38 patients and correlated the findings with clinical outcome and liver pathology.

S M Smorenburg, P Griffini, A Tiggelman, A F Moorman, W Boers, C J Van Noorden – 1 March 1996 – Localization and production of α2‐macroglobulin (α2M), a multifunctional binding protein with protease and cytokine scavenging properties, was studied in situ in rat livers containing experimentally induced colon carcinoma metastases by means of immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization methods. The study was performed to investigate whether α2M production by hepatocytes plays a role in the defense against the growth of metastases on the basis of its protease inhibiting capacity.

C H Halsted, J Villanueva, C J Chandler, S P Stabler, R H Allen, L Muskhelishvili, S J James, L Poirier – 1 March 1996 – Chronic alcoholism is associated with increased cancer risk that may be related to ethanol‐induced alterations in methionine and deoxynucleotide metabolism. These metabolic relationships were studied in micropigs fed diets for 12 months that contained 40% ethanol or cornstarch control with adequate folate. Ethanol feeding altered methionine metabolism without changing mean terminal liver folate levels.

L D DeLeve, X Wang, J F Kuhlenkamp, N Kaplowitz – 1 March 1996 – The mechanisms leading to hepatic venoocclusive disease (HVOD) remain largely unknown. Azathioprine and monocrotaline were studied as part of a series of studies looking at a variety of toxins that induce HVOD to find common features that might be of pathogenic significance. In a previous study, dacarbazine showed selective in vitro toxicity to sinusoidal endothelial cells (SEC) compared with hepatocytes and a key role for SEC glutathione (GSH) was demonstrated. Murine SEC and hepatocytes were isolated and studied in culture.

M Urade, R Izumi, H Kitagawa – 1 March 1996 – The role of leukotriene (LT) on liver regeneration after hepatectomy is still unknown. LTB4 stagnates in the liver with obstructive jaundice, because LTB4 is excreted in the bile; therefore, LTB4 may have an effect on liver regeneration after hepatectomy with obstructive jaundice. Release of obstructive jaundice and simultaneous 70% hepatectomy was performed in rats to study the effect of 5‐lipoxygenase inhibitor (AA‐861) on liver regeneration.

J Köck, L Theilmann, P Galle, H Schlicht – 1 March 1996 – There have been numerous reports suggesting that human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) can be productively infected with human hepatitis B virus (HBV). We therefore examined whether the PBMCs can be used to establish an in vitro infection system for HBV. Freshly purified PBMCs were incubated with HBV with or without mitogen stimulation.