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.

K. R. Reddy – 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).

Byers W Shaw – 1 November 1995

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.

William G. H. Abbott, Arie Geursen, John D. Fraser, John Marbrook, Margot A. Skinner, Paul L. J. Tan – 1 October 1995 – We used an anchor polymerase chain reaction method to compare the repertoires of transcribed T‐cell receptor β chain variable region (Vβ) genes in cord blood T cells from neonates of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive (n = 40) and HBsAg negative (n = 40) women. Fifteen of the HBsAg positive women were hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive, and 25 were HBeAg negative.

Kazuo Iwata, Takaji Wakita, Akihiko Okumura, Kentaro Yoshioka, Masahiro Takayanagi, Jack R. Wands, Shinichi Kakumu – 1 October 1995 – Evidence suggests that cellular immunity to hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein may be important in the pathogenesis of viral infection. Therefore, interferon gamma (IFN‐γ) production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) derived from patients with chronic HCV infection (genotype 1b) was examined. The cellular immune response was evaluated with a recombinant HCV core fusion protein derived from a patient with genotype 1b.

Luigi Fiume, Giuseppina Di Stefano, Corrado Busi, Alessandro Mattioli, Maria Rapicetta, Roberto Giuseppetti, Anna Rita Ciccaglione, Claudio Argentini – 1 October 1995 – We prepared a hepatotropic conjugate, suitable for intramuscular (IM) injection, of lactosaminated poly‐Llysine with adenine arabinoside monophosphate (ara‐AMP), a drug active against hepatitis B virus (HBV). We studied its organ distribution in mice and its antiviral activity in woodchucks that are carriers of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV).

Yun‐Fan Liaw – 1 October 1995 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) share same transmission routes, thus dual or triple infection may occur and even persist in the same patients. A significant amount of literature has accumulated since the advent of HCV assays. It is pertinent to review and evaluate the clinical and virological significance of HCV in multiple hepatotropic viral infection. The reported series on seroprevalence of HCV indicate that HCV is found in more than 10% of HBV‐ or HDV‐infected patients worldwide.

Ahmet Gurakar, Stefano Fagiuoli, Hawazin Faruki, Nicola De Maria, Mujdat Balkan, David H. Van Thiel, Lois Friedlander – 1 October 1995 – A total of 41 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) defined as abnormal liver injury test results for 6 months or more and HCV RNA positivity in plasma were studied to determine if the liver might not be the only focus of HCV infection in individuals treated with interferon alfa (IFN‐α). All patients were examined for the presence of confounding liver disease and tested negatively for such findings.