Robert M. Hoffmann, Helmut M. Diepolder, Reinhart Zachoval, Franz‐Maximilian Zwiebel, Maria‐Christina Jung, Siegfried Scholz, Hans Nitschko, Gert Riethmüller, Gerd R. Pape – 1 March 1995 – In acute and chronic viral disease the specific response of CD4+ T lymphocytes to certain viral proteins is an essential part of antiviral effector mechanisms. In hepatitis C virus infection, the contribution of the immune system and particularly of CD4+ T lymphocytes to the pathogenesis of disease is unknown.

Antoni Rimola, Joan M. Salmerón, Gerardo Clemente, Luis Rodrigo, Antoni Obrador, M. Luisa Miranda, Carlos Guarner, Ramon Planas, Ricard Solá, Victor Vargas, Fernando Casafont, Francesc Marco, Miquel Navasa, Rafael Bañares, Vicente Arroyo, Joan Rodés – 1 March 1995 – Cefotaxime (CTX) is considered one of the first‐choice antibiotics in the therapy of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in cirrhosis. Because CTX is largely metabolized in the liver, this drug may also be effective in SBP by administering lower doses than those habitually used.

Paola Manzini, Giorgio Saracco, Antonella Cerchier, Caterina Riva, Alberto Musso, Emanuela Ricotti, Elvia Palomba, Carlo Scolfaro, Giorgio Verme, Ferruccio Bonino, Pier Angelo Tovo – 1 February 1995 – To determine the rate of vertical transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV), we prospectively studied 45 babies born to anti‐HCV–positive women with or without con‐comitant infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Carl A. Goresky, Ellen R. Gordon, E. John Hinchey, Gerald M. Fried – 1 February 1995 – Gallbladder bile was obtained at laparoscopic cholcystecotomy from 31 patients with gallstones, and duodenal aspirates from 18 normal controls. Bile pigments (9 conjugates and unconjugated bilirubin) were analyzed by high‐performance liquid chromatography. The average proportional composition of the bile pigments from the patients with gallstones was characteristically different from the controls.

David K. Menon, Janet Sargentoni, Simon D. Taylor‐Robinson, Jimmy D. Bell, I. Jane Cox, David J. Bryant, Glyn A. Coults, Keith Rolles, Andrew K. Burroughs, Marsha Y. Margan – 1 February 1995 – Hepatic phosphorus‐31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P MRS) was undertaken in 85 patients with histoloically proven cirrhosis of varying etiologies and functional severity. Reference data were acquired from 16 healthy volunteers who had no history or evidence of liver disease or alcohol abuse.

Masato Nagino, Yuji Nimura, Junichi Kamiya, Satoshi Kondo, Katsuhiko Uesaka, Yukoh Kin, Naokazu Hayakawa, Hideo Yamamoto – 1 February 1995 – Changes in lobar volume of the liver and in total hepatic function were studied in 19 patients with biliary tract cancer who underwent right portal vein embolization as preoperative management for extensive liver resection. Computed tomography (CT) was performed to estimate liver volume before and approximately 11 days after embolization. An indocyanine green (ICG) test was performed before and 11 to 13 days after embolization.

Jaap Twisk, Marco F. M. Hoekman, Eline M. Lehmann, Piet Meijer, Willem H. Mager, Hans M. G. Princen – 1 February 1995 – Evidence from in vivo studies indicates that the bile acid pool and bile acid excretion are increased in humans with diabetes mellitus and in experimental diabetic animals, and that both parameters return to normal levels after administration of insulin.

Jürgen Scheibner, Michael Fuchs, Michael Schiemann, Eduard F. Stange – 1 February 1995 – In the current study, the role of the supply of preformed and newly synthesized cholesterol for the feedback control of the synthesis of different bile acids and the secretion of biliary cholesterol was investigated.

Jinlin Hou, Peter Karayiannis, Jenny Waters, Kangxian Luo, Chishen Liang, Howard C. Thomas – 1 February 1995 – The presence of unique hepatitis B virus (HBV) variants has been investigated in two Chinese patients with chronic liver disease, whose sera were positive for HBV‐DNA by dot blot hybridization or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) but hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)–negative by conventional polyclonal antibody based immunoassays.

Hirokazu Yago, Yutaka Kohgo, Junji Kato, Naoki Watanabe, Sumio Sakamaki, Yoshiro Niitsu – 1 February 1995 – We describe the first evidence that soluble asialoglycoprotein receptors (AGPR) are present in human serum and that they are quantifiable by an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). An affinity chromatography gel immobilized with monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) against human liver AGPR was mixed with normal sera, and the bound fraction was analyzed both by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by Western blot analysis.