S. Hyder Hussaini, Stephen P. Pereira, Gerard M. Murphy, R. Hermon Dowling – 1 December 1995 – Little is known about the effects of biliary deoxycholic acid on the partitioning of biliary cholesterol between vesicles and micelles and on the rate of nucleation of cholesterol microcrystals, key steps in gallstone formation. Therefore, 43 samples of fresh gallbladder bile were obtained from a heterogeneous group of patients with and without stones.

1 December 1995

Kunio Okuda – 1 December 1995

Elji Miyoshi, Yoshito Ihara, Atsushi Nishikawa, Hiroyuki Saito, Naofumi Uozumi, Norio Hayashi, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Takenobu Kamada, Naoyuki Taniguchi – 1 December 1995 – N‐acetylglucosaminyltransferases III and V (GnT‐III and ‐V) are key enzymes in the synthesis of the branches of asparagine‐linked oligosaccharides. Although their messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are expressed in various rat tissues, they are not detected in normal rat liver. Expression of the GnT‐III and ‐V mRNAs, however, increased in regenerating liver after two‐thirds partial hepatectomy compared with sham‐operated rats.

Giorgio La Villa, Donato Riccardi, Chiara Lazzeri, Vincenzo Casini Raggi, Antonio Dello Sbarba, Cristina Tosti Guerra, Caterina Fronzaroli, Marco Foschi, Giacomo Laffi, Paolo Gentilini – 1 December 1995 – Patients with cirrhosis and ascites have high plasma levels of atrial (ANP) and brain (BNP) natriuretic peptides, two cardiac hormones released by the atria and ventricles, respectively.

Darius Moradpour, Béatrice Compagnon, Byron E. Wilson, Claude Nicolau, Jack R. Wands – 1 November 1995 – The monoclonal antibody AF‐20 was raised against the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line FOCUS and binds with high affinity to a rapidly internalized 180‐kd homodimeric glycoprotein that is abundantly expressed on the surface of human HCC and other human cancer cell lines. Immunoliposomes were produced by covalently coupling AF‐20 to liposomes containing carboxyfluorescein.

Byers W Shaw – 1 November 1995

David J. Bronster, Mika W. Lidov, David Wolfe, Myron E. Schwartz, Charles M. Miller – 1 November 1995 – Six weeks after liver transplantation, a 51‐year‐old man developed a slowly progressive hemiparesis with deteriorating mental status and seizures. Successive computed tomography (CT) scans of the brain revealed unilateral nonenhancing white matter lucencies that gradually coalesced and progressed to both hemispheres. Brain biopsy results were consistent with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

K. R. Reddy – 1 November 1995

Cornel C. Sieber – 1 November 1995 – Background/Aims: Because the vasodilator nitric oxide is overproduced in cirrhosis, this substance may decrease pressor responses to the vasoconstrictor endothelin 1. This study aimed to examine the effects of a NO synthesis inhibitor (NG‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester; L‐NAME) on vascular responsiveness to endothelin 1 in normal and cirrhotic rats. Methods: Pressor dose‐response curves to endothelin 1 (0.5, 1, 3, 6, and 10 μg/kg intravenously) were obtained in animals with or without pretreatment with L‐NAME.