Effect of simvastatin, an inhibitor of hydroxy‐methylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase, on the growth of human ito cells

Ariane Mallat, Anne‐Marie Preaux, Sylvie Blazejewski, Daniel Dhumeaux, Jean Rosenbaum, Philippe Mavier – 1 December 1994 – During hepatic fibrogenesis, Ito cells proliferate, acquire a myofibroblastlike phenotype and synthesize increased amounts of extracellular matrix components. In this study, we have assessed the effects of simvastatin, an inhibitor of hydroxy‐methylglutaryl–coenzyme A reductase, on the growth of human myofibroblastlike Ito cells. Cells were grown from explants of normal human liver and characterized by a positive staining for desmin and smooth muscle α‐actin.

Genotypic analysis of hepatitis C virus in American patients

Kevin Mahaney, Valeria Tedeschi, Geert Maertens, Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, John Vergalla, Jay H. Hoofnagle, Richard Sallie – 1 December 1994 – We examined hepatitis C virus genotypes in 98 American patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection by means of two methods; restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and line probe assay, which is based on type‐specific sequence variations in the 5′ untranslated region. Type 1 was present in 73 patients (74%), type 2 in 15 (15%), type 3 in 6 (6%) and type 4 in 1 (1%).

Effects of obesity on bile formation and biliary lipid secretion in the genetically obese JCR:LA‐corpulent rat

Catherine M. St. George, James C. Russell, Eldon A. Shaffer – 1 December 1994 – Obesity, a known risk factor in cholesterol gallstone disease, is a favorable factor in the formation of bile supersaturated with cholesterol. Previous studies have been indirect and limited to human beings. To better define the hepatic secretory defect, we directly measured bile secretion and bile salt kinetics in a genetically obese rat.

FK 506 renal toxicity and lack of detectable cytochrome P‐450 3A in the liver graft of a patient undergoing liver transplantation

Antoinette Lemoine, Daniel Azoulay, Ashley Dennison, Liliane Kiffel, Lydiane Pichard, Valérie Furlan, Thierry Bienvenu, Gilles Fredj, Brigitte Debuire, Patrick Maurel, Henri Bismuth, Philippe Beaune – 1 December 1994 – Many commonly used drugs are substrates for hepatic cytochrome P‐450 3A in human beings, and its role in the metabolism of potentially toxic immunosuppressants has been highlighted (cyclosporine, FK 506).

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