Ability of prolonged interferon treatment to suppress relapse after cessation of therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C: A multicenter randomized controlled trial

Akinori Kasahara, Norio Hayashi, Naoki Hiramatsu, Masahide Oshita, Hideki Hagiwara, Kazuhiro Katayama, Michio Kato, Manabu Masuzawa, Harumasa Yoshihara, Yutaka Kishida, Yoji Shimizu, Atsuo Inoue, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Takenobu Kamada – 1 February 1995 – The aim of this study was to determine whether 12 months course of interferon alfa (IFN‐α) therapy could improve the beneficial effect of IFN in chronic hepatitis C. Eighty‐eight patients were treated with natural IFN‐α for either 28 weeks (45 cases) or 52 weeks (43 cases).

Endothelin stimulates platelet‐activating factor synthesis by cultured rat Kupffer cells

Shamimunisa B. Mustafa, Chandrashekhar R. Gandhi, Stephen A. K. Harvey, Merle S. Olson – 1 February 1995 – Endothelins are potent peptide mediators that elicit glycogenolytic and vasoconstrictor actions in the liver. Endothelins were found to stimulate the synthesis and release of the lipid mediator platelet‐activating factor in cultured rat Kupffer cells. Endothelin‐mediated synthesis of platelet‐activating factor required extracellular calcium in that the calcium chelator, EGTA and nifedipine, a calcium ion channel blocker, inhibited platelet‐activating factor synthesis.

A double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled trial of prostaglandin E1 in liver transplantation

Keith S. Henley, Michael R. Lucey, Daniel P. Normolle, Robert M. Merion, Ian D. McLaren, Bruce A. Crider, Donald S. Mackie, Victoria L. Shieck, Timothy T. Nostrant, Kimberly A. Brown, Darrell A. Campbell, John M. Ham, Henry D. Appelman, Jeremiah G. Turcotte – 1 February 1995 – A double‐blind placebo‐controlled trial of intravenous prostaglandin PGE1 (40 μg/h) was conducted in adult orthotopic liver transplant recipients. Infusion was started intraoperatively and continued for up to 21 days. Patients were followed up for 180 days postoperatively.

p53 Mutations in nonmalignant human liver: Fingerprints of aflatoxins?

Mehmet Ozturk – 1 February 1995 – Fifty‐eight percent of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) from Qidong, China, contain an AGG to AGT mutation at codon 249 of the p53 tumor suppressor gene, a mutation that is rarely seen in HCCs from Western countries. The population of Qidong is exposed to high levels of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a fungal toxin that has been shown to induce the same mutation in cultured human HCC cells.

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhotic patients treated using paracentesis or diuretics: Results of a randomized study

Ricard Solà, Montserrat Andreu, Susana Coll, Maria Carme Vila, Maria Isabel Oliver, Vicente Arroyo – 1 February 1995 – Diuretic treatment in cirrhotic patients with ascites increases ascitic fluid concentration of total protein and complement components, and opsonic activity. These changes are not observed in patients treated with paracentesis. Based on these data it has been suggested that therapeutic paracentesis may be associated with an increased risk of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) development.

Selective accumulation of the X transcript of hepatitis B virus in patients negative for hepatitis B surface antigen with hepatocellular carcinoma

Patrizia Paterlini, Karine Poussin, Michael Kew, Dominique Franco, Christian Brechot – 1 February 1995 – In HBsAg‐negitive patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), hepatitis B virus (HBV) genomes are present at a low copy number per cell, and the role of HBV in liver transformation is still unclear.

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