1 February 1994

Giorgio Ballardini, Paolo Groff, Lucilla Badiali de Giorgi, Detlef Schuppan, Francesco B. Bianchi – 1 February 1994 – The presence of desmin is used to identify Ito cells in rat liver and to evaluate the purity of separated and cultured Ito cells. Heterogeneity of the normal Ito cell population has been suggested; this could include variations in the content of cytoskeletal components. For these reasons we decided to reevaluate the use of desmin staining as a phenotypical marker of Ito cells in normal rat liver.

Hari S. Conjeevaram, Kevin D. Mullen, Elizabeth J. May, Arthur J. McCullough – 1 February 1994 – Alterations in behavior are frequently described in rats subjected to portacaval shunt. Previous work has reported reduced spontaneous motor activity in various settings (nighttime, red light, decreased illumination) in this animal model.

Herbert L. Kayne – 1 February 1994

Raymond S. Koff – 1 February 1994

Nimish Vakil, Anil Sharma, Yoram Yagil – 1 February 1994 – In an earlier study we showed that bile duct–ligated rats were highly susceptible to gentamicin nephrotoxicity and that oral calcium administration had a pronounced protective effect. The mechanism by which this occurs is unclear. Because cations compete with gentamicin for tubule binding sites, it has been suggested that the increased susceptibility of the kidney to gentamicin after bile duct ligation might result from decreased cation excretion.

Anna Mae Diehl, Shi Qi Yang – 1 February 1994 – CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins are a family of basic zipper DNA binding proteins that regulate transcription of several liver‐specific genes and certain growth‐related genes. Growth‐related variations in the nuclear expression of one or more of the CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins may regulate the transition from the nonproliferative, differentiated phenotype of adult liver to the proliferative phenotype of regenerating liver.

Olle Reichard, Ulla Foberg, Aril Frydén, Lars Mattsson, Gunnar Norkrans, Anders Sönnerborg, Rune Wejstål, Zhi‐Bing Yun, Ola Weiland – 1 February 1994 – To evaluate the effect of prolonged interferon‐α treatment on serum aminotransferase levels and hepatitis C virus RNA in serum, 40 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection were treated with 3 MU interferon‐α2b thrice weekly for 60 wk. Before treatment all patients had elevated serum ALT levels for at least 1 yr, antibodies to HCV by second‐generation tests and liver histological findings consistent with chronic hepatitis C.

Albert Parés,*, James J. Potter, Lynda Rennie, Esteban Mezey – 1 February 1994 – The mechanism whereby ethanol ingestion results in hepatic fibrosis remains unknown. Acetaldehyde has been shown to increase α1(I) collagen gene transcription in human fibroblasts and in rat myofibroblastlike cells (Ito cells) in culture. In this study, the effect of acetaldehyde was determined on the activation of the α2(I) collagen promoter.

Ion V. Deaciuc, Gregory J. Bagby, Michael R. Niesman, Nebojsa Skrepnik, John J. Spitzer – 1 February 1994 – We tested the hypothesis that Kupffer cells modulate sinusoidal endothelial cell function in the liver. Rats were treated with Kupffer cell–depleting agents (gadolinium chloride and liposome‐encapsulated dichloromethylene diphosphonate) or with inhibitors of phospholipase A2 or leukotriene A4 synthase (dexamethasone and diethylcarbamazine, respectively).