Pei‐Yun Shu, Chungming Chang, Lih‐Hwa Hwan, Cheng‐Po Hu – 1 August 1993 – The characterization of immune responses to hepatitis B virus is crucial for the understanding of hepatitis B virus–caused liver disease. However, lack of a suitable autologous effector–target cell system makes a precise study of the pathogenesis of hepatitis B difficult. In this study we established a model system by using autologous HBcAg‐expressing Epstein‐Barr virus–immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines as stimulator/target cells.

Peter E. Ballmer, Dominic Walshe, Margaret A. McNurlan, Heather Watson, Peter W. Brunt, Peter J. Garlic – 1 August 1993 – Albumin‐synthesis rates were measured in nine patients with stable cirrhosis and compared with those of eight healthy volunteers by means of a new technique using stable isotopes. Four grams of L‐[1‐13C]leucine was injected over 10 min, and blood samples were drawn at intervals.

Christophe Chesné, Claire Guyomard, Alain Fautrel, Marie‐gwenaëlle Poullain, Benjamin Frémond, Hendrik de Jong, André Guillouz – 1 August 1993 – Cryopreserved hepatocytes from various animal species and human beings were tested for their ability to survive and function in primary culture. The freeze/thaw protocol primarily designed for rat hepatocytes was used with slight modifications for the cells of all other species; it consisted of suspending parenchymal cells in the Leibovitz L15 medium containing 10% fetal calf serum and 10% to 16% dimethyl sulfoxide.

Raymond S. Koff – 1 August 1993

Paul D. Berk – 1 August 1993

Gustav Steinhoff, Matthias Behrend, Bettina Schrader, Rudolf Pichlmayr – 1 August 1993 – Recently it has become clear that the inflammatory response of immune cells to target cells and extracellular matrix is regulated by several receptor‐ligand molecules. Three main classes of molecules mediating intercellular adhesion and activation processes have been identified: the integrin, immunoglobulin and selectin families. This study surveys the expression of adhesion molecules on resident and infiltrating cells in human liver grafts.

Toshiji Saibara, Takashi Maeda, Masako Miyazaki, Saburo Onishi, Yasutake Ymamot – 1 August 1993 – Hegpatocellular carcinomas 1 cm in diameter with high or low echogenicity can be detected on ultrasonography and confirmed on fine‐needle biopsy, but it is still very difficult to detect small hepatocellular carcinomas with isoechogenicity. In this study, we assessed lymphokine‐activated killer cell activity and interferon‐γ production prospectively every 1 to 3 mo for 23 ± 4 mo (mean ± 1 S.D.) in 227 patients with cirrhosis.

Shinichi Kakumu, Kentaro Yoshioka, Takaji Wakita, Tetsuya Ishikawa, Masahiro Takayanagi, Yasuyuki Higashi – 1 August 1993 – Ribavirin is a nucleoside analog that inhibits the replication of many DNA and RNA viruses. To evaluate the efficacy of oral ribavirin, we randomly assigned 24 HBeAg‐positive patients with chronic active hepatitis to a 12‐wk course of treatment with 0.8 to 1.0 gm/ribavirin day, 3 mU interferon‐β three times a week intravenously or a combination of those drugs.

Domenico Sansonno, Franco Dammacco – 1 August 1993 – A pool of murine monoclonal antibodies developed against c100 antigen, a hepatitis C virus–associated protein encoded by the NS3/NS4 virus genome, was used to detect hepatitis C virus in liver biopsy specimens from patients with acute and chronic hepatitis C virus infection. The antigen was present in the cytoplasm of liver cells only. The immunoreactive signal appeared as large, distinct, brilliant fluorescent granules with no clear relationship to cellular structures. No obvious membrane c100 antigen accumulation was observed.

Taizo Hijioka, Moritaka Goto, John J. Lemasters, Ronald G. Thurma – 1 August 1993 – Kupffer cells, the resident hepatic macrophages, are activated by calcium, and several reports indicate that their function (e.g., phagocytosis and cytokine production) is altered by ethanol. We recently found that Kupffer cells contain L‐type voltage‐dependent Ca2+ channels. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the effect of short‐term ethanol treatment on voltage‐dependent Ca2+ channels in Kupffer cells.