James V. Sitzmann, Yuping Wu, Greti Acuilera, Paul A. Cahill, R. Cartland Burns – 1 August 1995 – Decreased splanchnic vascular response to exogenous angiotensin‐II (A‐II) infusion in portal hypertension has recently been documented. A‐II receptor density and binding affinity in the mesenteric artery, portal vein, and adrenal gland of normal and portal hypertensive rabbits were studied. Portal hypertension was induced by partial portal vein ligation 3 weeks before study.

Jörg C. Gerlach, Norbert Schnoy, Jens Encke, Mark D. Smith, Christian Müller, Peter Neuhaus – 1 August 1995 – Primary pig hepatocytes form a tissuelike structure in an in vitro culture model that has provision for threedimensional cell orientation, cell aggregation, decentralized cell perfusion with low metabolite gradients, integral oxygenation, and nonparenchymal cell coculture. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has shown that hepatocytes spontaneously form aggregates in a three‐dimensional structure between and on the surface of artificial capillaries.

Bruce A. Marcel – 1 August 1995

Akira Kaneko, Norio Hayashi, Yuji Tanaka, Masayoshi Horimoto, Toshifumi Ito, Yutaka Sasaki, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Takenobu Kamada – 1 August 1995 – The effect of the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on the Na+/H+ exchanger was studied using primary cultured hepatocytes. HGF induced intracellular pH (pHi) elevation of 0.10 pH units in hepatocytes cultured for 4 to 7 hours; the response was lower after other culture periods. Even with the same culture period, intercellular heterogeneity was found in the responsiveness to HGF.

Donald R. Taylor, Roger S. Crowther, John C. Cozart, Pamela Sharrock, Jinguang Wu, Roger D. Soloway – 1 August 1995 – This study of sets of cholesterol gallstones collected consecutively from 222 patients in La Paz, Bolivia, and Mexico City, Mexico, has developed a reliable infrared (IR) spectroscopic method for the detection of calcium carbonate in cholesterol gallstones and provided the basis for simultaneous identification of each of its three polymorphs: calcite, vaterite, and aragonite.

1 August 1995

Decherd Stump, Richard A. Weisiger, Paul D. Berk – 1 August 1995 – Long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) are an important energy substrate used by cardiac myocytes and other cells, but the mechanism whereby these molecules cross the plasma membrane is poorly understood. We used an expression cloning strategy and a cDNA library from 3T3‐L1 adipocytes to identify a cDNA that, when expressed in cultured cells, augments uptake of LCFAs.

A. J. Demetris – 1 August 1995

Maria De Lourdes Ponce, Marcos Rojkind – 1 August 1995 – Laminin belongs to a family of proteins that contains at least seven variants. Together with fibronectin, it is the most important cell‐adhesion protein. Recent data from various laboratories have suggested that liver sinusoidal laminins differ from Engelbert‐Holmes‐Swarm tumor laminin (laminin 1), because the former contain α2 instead of α1 chains. Therefore, we compared the adhesion of hepatocytes to laminin 1 and a matrix extracted with dilute acetic acid from liver biomatrix (LBP).

Morris Sherman, Kevork M. Peltekian, Cindy Lee – 1 August 1995 – Objective: To prospectively determine the prevalence and annual incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis B carriers in a heterogeneous urban North American population and to assess the diagnostic accuracy of tests used for screening for this cancer. Design: Prospective cohort study of 1,069 chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus using screening with α‐fetoprotein alone or in combination with ultrasonography every 6 months. Results: The mean age of the cohort was 39 ± 12 years (± SD), 65% were men, 71% were Asians.