Kofi N. W. Oppong, Kim Bartlett, Christopher O. Record, Hanan Al Mardini – 1 August 1995 – Dysfunction of excitatory glutamatergic neurotransmission has been implicated in the cause of hepatic encephalopathy. Brain microdialysis studies in various animal models of portal systemic encephalopathy (PSE) and encephalopathy associated with acute liver failure, have established that an increase in extracellular glutamate occurs but the mechanisms of this are unclear.

Lilia M. Maglova, Angela M. Jackson, Xue‐Jun Meng, Michael W. Carruth, Claudio D. Schteingart, Huong‐Thu Ton‐Nu, Alan F. Hofmann, Steven A. Weinman – 1 August 1995 – The transport properties of three different synthetically prepared fluorescent conjugated bile acid analogs (FBA), all with the fluorophore on the side chain, were determined using isolated rat hepatocytes and hepatocyte couplets. The compounds studied were cholylglycylamidofluorescein (CGamF), cholyl‐(Nϵ‐nitrobenzoxadiazolyl [NBD])‐lysine (C‐NBD‐L), and chenodeoxycholyl‐(Nϵ‐NBD)‐lysine (CDC‐NBD‐L).

Ferruccio Bonino, Maurizia Rossana Brunetto – 1 August 1995 – Patients with chronic hepatitis D often have liver‐kidney microsomal antibodies type 3 (LKM‐3). These antibodies react with several microsomal antigens that have a molecular weight of 55 HDa and an isoelectric point of about 8. We studied the molecular nature of the antigen and, by immunoscreening a human liver cDNA expression library with KM‐3 sera, found that uridine diphosphate glucuronosyl transferase (UGT) appeared as candidate antigens.

Martín Prieto, Vicente Olaso, Clara Verdú, Juan Córdoba, Concepción Gisbert, Miguel Rayón, Domingo Carrasco, Marina Berenguer, María Dolores Higón, Joaquín Berenguer – 1 August 1995 – To determine whether the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) viremia correlates with the severity of liver disease in anti‐HCV‐positive apparently healthy blood donors, we studied 98 blood donors found positive for anti‐HCV using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Yukihiro Shimizu, Masami Minemura, Takashi Tsukishiro, Yoshirou Kashii, Megumi Miyamoto, Hiroshi Nishimori, Kiyohiro Higuchi, Akiharu Watanabe – 1 August 1995 – Serum levels of soluble forms of intercellular adhesion molecule–1 (sICAM‐1) and lymphocyte function‐associated antigen‐3 (sLFA‐3) in 122 patients with chronic liver disease including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. Serum levels of sICAM‐1 in patients with HCC were significantly higher than those of chronic hepatitis (CH) and cirrhosis.

Hiroshi Nakano, Karim Boudjema, Eliane Alexandre, Pierre Imbs, Marie Pierre Chenard, Philippe Wolf, Jacques Cinqualbre, Daniel Jaeck – 1 August 1995 – We investigated whether intraportal injection of 150 mg/kg N‐acetylcysteine (NAC) into rats reduced hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion injury after 48 hours of cold storage and 2 hours of reperfusion. The organ was isolated and perfused to evaluate liver function. The control group received an intraportal injection of 5% dextrose. NAC increased L‐cysteine concentrations 15 minutes after injection (1.29 ± 0.11 μmol/g vs.

Ansgar Wilhelm Lohse, Matthias Kögel, Karl‐Hermann Mermer Zum Büschenfelde – 1 August 1995 – Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) runs a variable clinical course. Slow disease progression or even spontaneous remissions can be observed and suggest that the autoimmune process can, at least to a certain extent, be controlled by regulatory elements of the patient's own immune system. In experimental autoimmune hepatitis (EAH) spontaneous recovery is regularly observed and associated with antigen‐specific and antigen‐nonspecific suppression.

Patrick S. C. Leung, David T. Chuang, R. Max Wynn, Sanghoon Cha, Dean J. Danner, Aftab Ansari, Ross L. Coppel, M. Eric Gershwin – 1 August 1995 – Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an autoimmune disease of liver associated with a unique serologic response to mitochondrial autoantigens. Many of the autoantigens recognized by autoantibodies in PBC are members of the 2‐oxo‐acid dehydrogenase complex. The two major autoantigens are the E2 component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC‐E2) and the E2 component of the branched chain 2‐oxo‐acid dehydrogenase complex (BCOADC‐E2).

Peter R. Sinclair, Nadia Gorman, Jacqueline F. Sinclair, Heidi S. Walton, William J. Bement, Richard W. Lambrecht – 1 August 1995 – Ascorbate was previously shown to suppress accumulation of uroporphyrin (URO) in cultured chick embryo hepatocytes and to competitively inhibit microsomal oxidation of uroporphyrinogen catalyzed by cytochrome P4501A2.

Shigeo Sugano, Tokuya Suzuki, M. Vaubourdolle, O. Chazouilleres, R. Poupon, J. Giboudeau – 1 August 1995