Hans Peter Dienes, Guido Gerken, Bernd Goergen, Klaus Heermann, Wolfram Gerlich, K. H. Meyer zum Büschenfelde – 1 January 1995 – A number of naturally occurring hepatitis B virus (HBV) mutants unable to synthesize the hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) have been identified in patients characterized by HBV DNA and anti‐HBe in their serum. Because the analysis of the HBV‐associated DNA and antigens in the liver tissue is still not complete, we investigated the precore sequence of HBV DNA and its encoded proteins in the liver tissue of 32 patients positive for HBV DNA and anti‐HBe in their serum.

Filip Braet, Ronald De Zanger, Marijke Baekeland, Evelyne Crabbé, Patrick Van Der Smissen, Eddie Wisse – 1 January 1995 – This article describes the cytoskeleton associated with fenestrae and sieve plates of rat liver sinusoidal endothelial cells. Fenestrae control the exchange between the blood and parenchymal cells. We present evidence indicating that several agents that change the fenestrae and sieve plates also cause changes in the cytoskeleton. Cultured liver endothelial cells (LECs) were slightly fixed and treated with cytoskeleton extraction buffer.

Angelo Luca, Juan Carlos Garí‐Pagán, Faust Feu, Juan Carlos Lopez‐Talavera, Mercedes Fernández, Concepció Bru, Jaime Bosch, Juan Rodés – 1 January 1995 – This study investigated the correlation between changes in hepatic and systemic hemodynamics and femoral blood flow (FBF), measured by dual‐beam pulsed wave Doppler, in 58 portal hypertensive patients receiving propranolol (0.15 mg/Kg intravenously; n = 44) or placebo (n = 14) under double‐blind conditions. Placebo administration had no effects.

Howard N. Sankary, Lawrence McChesney, Elizabeth Frye, Steven Cohn, Preston Foster, James Williams – 1 January 1995 – Nonanastomotic strictures after liver transplantations are a source of significant morbidity, often necessitating retransplantation. The purpose of this study was twofold: first to identify features associated with the development of this lesion; second, to make technical modifications that will decrease the incidence of this problem. In the first part of this study, 15 of 131 patients were diagnosed with nonanastomotic biliary stricture.

William D. Payne – 1 January 1995

Ehoud Shmueli, Christopher O. Record, K. George M. M. Alberti, Alexander S. Petrides – 1 January 1995

Lan D. A. D'Agata, Maureen M. Jonas – 1 January 1995 – This work details the histologic findings in 84 liver biopsy specimens from 28 patients with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC), who met the clinical criteria of early onset of chronic unremitting cholestasis, exclusion of any known metabolic or anatomic etiology, and low serum γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP) values. Hepato‐canalicular cholestasis and disruption of the liver cell plate arrangement were early, uniform findings, and giant cell transformation was found in 56% of initial biopsies.

Florian Gantner, Marcel Leist, Ansgar Wilhelm Lohse, Paul Georg Germann, Gisa Tiegs – 1 January 1995 – Concanavalin A activates T lymphocytes in vitro and causes T‐cell‐dependent hepatic injury in mice. T lymphocytes were previously identified as effector cells of concanavalin A‐induced liver injury. Here we report that hepatic injury is characterized by apoptotic cell death. On concanavalin A challenge, the cytokines tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF α), interleukin‐2, granulocyte macrophage‐colony stimulating factor, and interferon‐γ were detectable in the circulation of the mice.

Conrado M. Fernández‐Rodriguez, Jesús Prieto, Jorge Quiroga, José Manuel Zozoya, Amalia Andrade, Marina Núñez, Bruno Sangro, José Penas – 1 January 1995 – The mediators of the hyperdynamic circulation of liver cirrhosis are not well characterized. Substance P is a potent vasodilatory peptide produced by the enteric nervous system and partly cleared by the liver. In this work we have investigated the plasma levels of substance P and their relationship to the hemodynamic, neurohormonal, and renal function changes occurring in patients with cirrhosis.

Gongliang Jin, Kenric M. Murayama, Jon S. Thompson, Layton F. Rikkers – 1 January 1995 – Pancreatic complications after the distal splenorenal shunt have not been commonly recognized. Between January 1978 and June 1993, 154 patients underwent a distal splenorenal shunt, and 11 patients (7%) developed pancreatic complications, of which 4 had pancreatitis alone, and 7 developed pancreatitis‐related complications. Etiology of cirrhosis, Child's classification and timing of surgery were not predictive of pancreatic complications.