Janine S. McMillan, Tim Shaw, Peter W. Angus, Stephen A. Locarnini – 1 July 1995 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA‐transfected hepatoma cells were incubated with the immunosuppressive agents prednisolone, azathioprine, and cyclosporin A (CsA) and the antiviral agents ganciclovir and foscarnet to investigate the effects of these compounds on HBV replication. Prednisolone and azathioprine increased in‐tracellular viral DNA and RNA levels approximately twofold and fourfold, respectively. Treatment with CsA did not alter the levels of viral RNA or DNA.

Susan Kennedy, Steve Rettinger, M. Wayne Flye, Katherine Parker Ponder – 1 July 1995 – One hypothesis is that postnatal liver growth involves replication of mature hepatocytes, which have an unlimited proliferative potential. An alternative viewpoint is that only certain periportal cells can replicate extensively and that daughter cells stream slowly from the periportal to the pericentral region of the liver. Transgenic mice expressing the beta‐galactosidase (β‐gal) gene from the human α1 antitrypsin promoter were used to examine the proliferative potential of hepatocytes.

Alan P. Venook, Linda D. Ferrell, John P. Roberts, Jean Emond, John W. Frye, Ernest Ring, Nancy L. Ascher, John R.

Eugene R. Schiff – 1 July 1995

Karin Vanderkerken, Luc Bouwens, Nico Van Rooijen, Kit Van Den Berg, Marijke Baekeland, Eddie Wisse – 1 July 1995 – Pit cells, or hepatic natural killer (NK) cells, present in rat liver sinusoids, represent an organ‐associated NK cell population, with a higher level of activation and a different morphology when compared with peripheral blood NK cells. These cells are the result of an influx of peripheral blood NK cells in the liver microenvironment, followed by an activation or differentiation process toward the highly activated phenotype.

Chia Chiao, Yingchun Zhang, David G. Kaufman, William K. Kaufmann – 1 July 1995 – An immortal line of chemically altered rat hepatocytes was used to study the effects of the liver tumor promoter, phenobarbital (PB), on hepatocyte growth and viability in vitro. When the serum concentration in medium was changed from 10% to 0.5%, cell proliferation decreased and hepatocytes died. Death of the hepatocytes occurred after 2 days in low‐serum medium. PB appeared to control the type of cell death that occurred.

Harold O. Conn – 1 July 1995 – Objective Results of the first prospective randomized clinical trial comparing partial and total portacaval shunt for variceal hemorrhage are reported. Summary Background Data Total portacaval shunts produce subnormal portal pressures, completely diverting hepatic portal flow. Partial shunts maintain higher pressures and preserve hepatopedal flow. No randomized trials of these two approaches have been performed.

Gian Luca Grazi, Alighieri Mazziotti, Cristina Legnani, Elio Jovine, Rita Miniero, Antonio Gallucci, Gualtiero Palareti, Giuseppe Gozzetti – 1 July 1995 – The assessment of new and more sensitive serum markers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a useful contribution to the diagnosis of small liver tumors, still amenable by surgery.

Olivier Rosmorduc, Marie‐Anne Petit, Stanislas Pol, Francis Capel, Flavia Bortolotti, Pierre Berthelot, Christian Brechot, Dina Kremsdorf – 1 July 1995 – The mechanisms involved in hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistence are still poorly understood. We have previously shown that the encapsidation of the singly spliced 2.2 kb‐HBV RNA leads to the secretion of circulating HBV defective particles in patients with chronic hepatitis. We have now investigated the presence of the HBV defective particles in sera from patients with acute and chronic hepatitis, using polymerase chain reaction.

Sophie Hillaire, François Ballet, Dominique Franco, Kenneth D. R. Setchell, Raoul Poupon – 1 July 1995 – Hepatic bile acid concentrations are elevated in chronic cholestasis because of reduced canalicular excretion and active ileal absorption of the fraction eliminated in the gut. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) reduces the intestinal absorption of endogenous bile acids, thereby diminishing the concentrations to which liver cells are exposed.