Stefano Bellentani, Claudio Tiribelli, Gioconda Saccoccio, Marino Sodde, Nicoletta Fratti, Christina De Martin, Giovanni Christianini – 1 December 1994 – Data on the prevalence of chronic liver disease, derived from selected series of hospitalized patients or from mortality registers, underestimate the prevalence of chronic liver disease. The Dionysos Study is a cohort study that investigated for the first time the prevalence of chronic liver disease in a general population.

Junko Kobayashi, Sadako Yamada, Hironaka Kawasaki – 1 December 1994 – To clarify the clinical significance of vitronectin, we compared the concentration of plasma vitronectin with serum fibrous markers and liver function test values in patients with chronic liver diseases. We also evaluated the vitronectin content in the liver by means of enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and the localization of vitronectin in liver tissue with enzyme immunohistochemistry.

Susan F. Dellert, William F. Balistreri – 1 November 1994

Julián Panés, Maria Casadevall, Mercedes Fernández, Josep M. Piqué, Jaume Bosch, Roser Casamitjana, Isabel Cirera, Josep A. Bombí, Josep Terés, Juan Rodés – 1 November 1994 – It has been suggested that estrogen‐progestagen therapy may be useful in preventing bleeding from gastric angiodysplasia, a vascular lesion similar to that described in portal‐hypertensive gastropathy. In this study we assessed the effects of estrogen‐progestagen therapy on gastric microcirculation and systemic and splanchnic hemodynamics in portal‐hypertensive and sham‐operated rats.

Motoko Sasaki, Yasuni Nakanuma – 1 November 1994 – Expression of mucin core protein of mammary type (MUC‐1 core protein) was investigated in primary hepatic carcinoma (25 cases of cholangiocarcinoma, 15 cases of combined hepatocellular‐cholangiocellular carcinoma and 18 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma) with monoclonal antibody DF3 and a standard avidinbiotin complex method.

Ronald A. Faris, Douglas C. Hixson – 1 November 1994 – In transgenic mice bearing the Simian Virus 40 large T antigen under the control of the human anti‐thrombin III regulatory sequences, a step‐wise progression toward hepatocellular carcinoma is observed. We have used two monoclonal antibodies (A6 and G7) developed against a surface antigen expressed in oval cells from dipin‐treated mice, to analyze the emergence of such preneoplastic populations in the livers of anti‐thrombin III Simian Virus 40 T transgenic mice.

Khay‐Lin Teoh, Merrill J. Rowley, Helen Zafirakis, E. Rolland Dickson, Russell H. Wiesner, M. Eric Gershwin, Ian R. Mackay – 1 November 1994 – Sera from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis inhibit the activity of the mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. We utilized this effect to develop a simple, miniaturized, semiautomated spectrophotometric assay as a diagnostic aid. The sera studied were from 71 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and 62 other subjects.

Karl Ludwig Rost, Herbert Brösicke, Gerhard Heinemeyer, Ivar Roots – 1 November 1994 – Omeprazole induces hepatic cytochrome P‐4501A2. In a previous study this effect was shown to be significant in vivo in 6 poor metabolizers, including 1 intermediate metabolizer, but not in 12 extensive metabolizers of S‐mephenytoin after 7 days of treatment with 40 mg/day omeprazole. In this study, the specificity of the inducing potential of omeprazole was investigated in these volunteers.

Masahide Oshita, Norio Hayashi, Akinori Kasahara, Hideki Hagiwara, Eiji Mita, Masafumi Naito, Kazuhiro Katayama, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Takenobu Kamada – 1 November 1994 – Hepatitis viruses and alcohol are major causes of liver disease. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of alcohol intake on the replication of hepatitis C virus and the efficacy of interferon therapy. Fiftythree patients who were histologically proved to have chronic hepatitis C were tested.

Antonio Francavilla, Brian I. Carr, Alessandro Azzarone, Lorenzo Polimeno, Ziqiu Wang, David H. Van Thiel, Vladimir Subbotin, John G. Prelich, Thomas E. Starzl – 1 November 1994 – Subcutaneous injections of hormone triiodothyronine in rats resulted in peak blood levels at 24 hr with return to baseline by 96 hr. The injections stimulated a liver regeneration response that resembled in timing and in magnitude of DNA synthesis (peak, 24 hr) that induced by 40% hepatic resection. The principal proliferation was of hepatocytes.