Hamid R. Amouzadeh, Lance R. Pohl – 1 September 1995 – In this study we have investigated the mechanism of the processing of trifluoroacetylated liver microsomal protein antigens associated with halothane hepatitis to learn how the immune system might come in contact with these proteins to form antibodies directed against them. Rats were treated with halothane and parenchymal (PC) and non‐parenchymal cells (NPC) were isolated 16 hours later.

Sylvie Blazejewski, Anne‐Marie Preaux, Ariane Mallat, Isabelle Brocheriou, Philippe Mavier, Daniel Dhumeaux, Daniel Hartmann, Detlef Schuppan, Jean Rosenbaum – 1 September 1995 – During human fibrogenesis, myofibroblastlike cells proliferate and are the main source of fibrosis components. We have used cultured myofibroblastlike cells obtained by outgrowth from explants of human liver to study the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) components and matrix‐metalloproteinase‐2 (MMP‐2). These cells contained types I, III, IV, and V procollagen messenger RNAs (mRNAs).

Fabio Marra, Giuseppe Grandaliano, Anthony J. Valente, Hanna E. Abboud – 1 September 1995 – Liver fat‐storing cells (FSC) proliferate and secrete extracellular matrix in experimental models of liver injury. In this study, we determined if thrombin, a serine protease produced during acute and chronic tissue injury, modulates the functions of FSC. Thrombin stimulated DNA synthesis and proliferation of FSC, as assessed by [3H]‐thymidine incorporation assay and measurement of cell number, respectively.

Dirk De Craemer, Marina Pauwels, Christiane Van den Branden – 1 September 1995 – We investigated the hepatocellular peroxisomes in 27 patients with steatosis of the liver by means of catalase cytochemistry, light and electron microscopic study, and morphometry. Seven normal human livers were used as controls. In our patients, fatty liver was mainly associated with alcohol abuse or obesity. Indications for a slight decrease in catalase activity and for a proliferation were found by visual evaluation of the peroxisomes.

William J. Wall – 1 September 1995

Zhi Zhong, Ronald G. Thurman – 1 September 1995 – In this study, the effects of fish oil treatment on hepatic reperfusion injury in a low‐flow, reflow perfusion model were investigated. Rats were fed powdered diets containing either 5% corn oil or 5% encapsulated fish oil for 13 to 15 days. Average daily food intake in both control and fish oil groups was about 20 g per rat, and weight gain averaged 9 g/rat/d. Livers were perfused at flow rates around 1 mL/g/min for 75 minutes, which caused cells in pericentral regions to become anoxic because of insufficient delivery of oxygen.

Katherine Stephenson, Stephen A. K. Harvey, Shamimunisa B. Mustafa, Ann T. Eakes, Merle S. Olson – 1 September 1995 – Circulating endothelin (ET) levels are elevated in conditions such as endotoxemia, hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion injury, or orthotopic liver transplantation, and this potent peptide may contribute to hepatic pathophysiology. We measured the surface binding of [125I]ET‐1 to rat Kupffer cells in primary culture at 4°C; the apparent dissociation constant (Kd) was 270 pmol/L, and the apparent Bmax was 3,000 receptors/cell.

Stephen Wong, Tony Gauthier, Kelly D. E. Kaita, Gerald Y. Minuk – 1 September 1995 – The purpose of this study was to determine whether all commercially available forms of interferon alfa (IFN α) have the same inhibitory effect on hepatic regeneration and whether this inhibitory effect can be prevented by putrescine, a hepatic growth promotor. Adult male Sprague‐Dawley rats (n = 92) received either IFN α‐2a, 2b, n1, or saline, 0 and 8 hours after partial hepatectomy (PHx) or 16 hours before PHx.

Ioannis Diamantis, Eva Karamitopoulou, Elias Perentes, Arthur Zimmermann – 1 September 1995 – Forty‐five extrahepatic bile duct carcinomas (i.e., tumors of the region proximal to the duct junction, including Klatskin tumors, tumors of the lower mid‐region, and tumors of the ampulla of Vater) and 11 gallbladder carcinomas were immunohistochemically examined for p53 protein expression, using the DO‐7 monoclonal (mAb) and the CM‐1 polyvalent (pAb) antibodies and an antigen retrieval method.

William T. Abraham, Marije E. Lauwaars, Jin K. Kim, Ricardo L. Peñna, Robert W. Schrier – 1 September 1995 – To test the hypothesis that diminished sodium delivery to the distal tubular site of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) action accounts for renal ANP resistance in cirrhosis, 12 cirrhotic patients with ascites were studied at baseline and during the infusion of ANP alone (0.15 μg/kg/min), mannitol alone (4 g/hr), and ANP plus mannitol for 3 hours each.