Diseases of the liver and biliary tract. Standardization of nomenclature, diagnostic criteria and prognosis. Edited by Carroll M. Leevy, Sheila Sherlock, Neils Tygstrup, and Rowen Zetterman, 205 pp. New York: Raven Press, 1994. $40

Increased gene expression of water channel in cirrhotic rat kidneys

Yasuhiro Asahina, Namiki Izumi, Nobuyuki Enomoto, Sei Sasaki, Kiyohide Fushimi, Fumiaki Marumo, Chifumi Sato – 1 January 1995 – In patients with liver cirrhosis, impaired water and sodium excretion has been incriminated in the pathogenesis of ascites formation. Increased reabsorption of water in the distal nephron has been shown to play an important role in water retention in cirrhotic rat kidneys. Recently, a complementary DNA (cDNA) for the vasopressin‐regulated water channel (the aquaporin of the apical membrane of the kidney collecting duct [AQP‐CD]) has been cloned.

The role of sodium in the uptake of ursodeoxycholic acid in isolated hamster hepatocytes

Bernard Bouscarel, Robert Nussbaum, Howard Dubner, Hans Fromm – 1 January 1995 – The uptake of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) was studied in isolated hamster hepatocytes. The uptake was rapid and linear up to 60 seconds for each concentration studied. When the uptake rate was plotted against UDCA concentration, the curve was nonlinear, indicating both saturable and nonsaturable uptake mechanisms. The nonsaturable process had a diffusion constant of 0.01 nmol·s–1·g of cell·μmol/L–1.

Octreotide blunts postprandial splanchnic hyperemia in cirrhotic patients: A double‐blind randomized echo‐doppler study

Paolo Buonamico, Carlo Sabbá, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Elsa Berardi, Gianfranco Antonica, Giovanna Ferraioli, Jonathan E. Jensen, Emanuel Lerner, Kenneth J. W. Taylor, Ottavio Albano, Roberto J. Groszmann – 1 January 1995 – The effect of octreotide, a long‐acting synthetic analog of somatostatin, on fasting and postprandial splanchnic hemodynamics was investigated in cirrhotic patients.

Serial recording of sensory evoked potentials: A noninvasive prognostic indicator in fulminant liver failure

Christian Madl, Georg Grimm, Peter Ferenci, Ludwig Kramer, Wafa Yeganehfar, Walter Oder, Rudolf Steininger, Christian Zauner, Klaus Ratheiser, Felix Stockenhuber, Kurt Lenz – 1 December 1994 – Sensory evoked potentials are markedly changed in patients with fulminant liver failure. It is unknown, however, whether serial recordings of sensory evoked potentials provide useful prognostic informations for patient management in fulminant liver failure.

Increased nitric oxide—dependent vasorelaxation in aortic rings of cirrhotic rats with ascites

Joan Clària, Wladimiro Jiménez Ph.D., Josefa Ros, Montserrat Rigol, Paolo Angeli, Vicente Arroyo, Francisca Rivera, Joan Rodés – 1 December 1994 – To assess whether aortic vessels of rats with cirrhosis and ascites possess an enhanced vascular response to endothelium‐derived, nitric oxide—dependent vasodilators, we performed relaxation studies in isolated aortic rings of 21 control rats and 24 rats with carbon tetrachloride—induced cirrhosis and ascites. We carried out studies after contracting the vessels with norepinephrine.

Effect of intrahepatic portal‐systemic shunting on hepatic ammonia extraction in patients with cirrhosis

Fumio Nomura, Kunihiko Ohnishi, Hidetaka Terabayashi, Toshiaki Nakai, Kazumasa Isobe, Kazuhiro Takekoshi, Kunio Okuda – 1 December 1994 – Increased plasma ammonia levels in patients with advanced cirrhosis have been attributed to reduced conversion of enteric ammonia to urea by the diseased liver and to entry of enteric ammonia into systemic circulation by way of portal‐systemic shunts. Because single‐pass extraction is high for portal venous ammonia, reduction of portal blood supply to hepatocytes may have detrimental effects on the hepatic extraction of ammonia.

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