Yasuni Nakanuma – 1 September 1993 – Primary biliary cirrhosis is characterized by the immune‐mediated, nonsuppurative destruction of intrahepatic small bile ducts, with significant T‐cell involvement. To date, B cells in livers of primary biliary cirrhosis patients have been ignored in immunopathological evaluations of nonsuppurative cholangitis. This study aimed to correlate the distribution of activated T and B cells with the histopathology of nonsuppurative cholangitis in primary biliary cirrhosis, with emphasis on B cell infiltration.

María Casadevall, Julián Panés, Josep M. Piqué, Norma Marroni, Jaume Bosch, Brendan J. R. Whittle – 1 September 1993 – This study investigates the effects of inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis by NG‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME), the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis with indomethacin and the combined effects on gastric mucosal hyperemia of ketamine‐anesthetized rats with portal hypertension induced by partial portal vein ligation. The hydrogen gas–clearance technique was used for measurement of gastric mucosal blood flow.

Robert Cywes, Marian A. Packham, Linda Tietze, Juan R. Sanabria, P. Robert C. Harvey, M. James Phillips, Steven M. Strasberg – 1 September 1993 – Cold preservation of liver allografts injures hepatic sinusoidal lining cells. This injury is exacerbated on reperfusion, in part because of adhesion of leukocytes. Platelets also adhere to activated endothelial surfaces. In this study we examined the role of platelets in preservation injury.

Germana V. Gregorio, Giorgina Mieli‐Vergani – 1 September 1993

Julio Vorobioff, Eduardo Picabea, Marcelo Gamen, Roberto Villavicencio, Juan Bordato, Fernando Bessone, Hugo Tanno, Jorge Palazzi, Hector Sarano, Luisa Pozzoli, Roberto Sanchez, Ricardo Giordano – 1 September 1993 – The long‐term hemodynamic and renal effects of propranolol were compared with those of propranolol plus isosorbide dinitrate in 44 portal‐hypertensive alcoholic cirrhotic patients. Eight control patients, 8 patients receiving propranolol and 14 patients receiving propranolol plus isosorbide dinitrate were hemodynamically evaluated.

Raymond S. Koff – 1 September 1993

Mark Hathaway, David Burnett, Elwyn Elias, David H. Adams – 1 September 1993 – In 35 patients receiving first liver transplants we assessed the chemotactic responsiveness of peripheral blood lymphocytes to bile, the subset composition of the responding population and the ability of peripheral blood lymphocytes to produce chemotactic factors.

Daniel L. B. Hill, Luis S. Marsano, Craig J. McClain – 1 September 1993 – Patients with alcoholic hepatitis often have hepatic polymorphonuclear leukocyte infiltration and neutrophilia. Interleukin‐8 is a cytokine that stimulates neutrophil chemotaxis and release of lysosomal enzymes. It is made by several types of cells, including fibroblasts, Kupffer cells and hepatocytes. In this study, serial plasma interleukin‐8 concentrations were measured with enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay in 40 consecutive patients with moderate‐to‐severe alcoholic hepatitis over a 6‐mo period.

Nora B. Krull, Thomas Zimmermann, Axel M. Gressner – 1 September 1993 – Expression of the proteoglycans biglycan and decorin and of transforming growth factor‐α1 at various stages of liver fibrosis induced experimentally in rats by oral administration of thioacetamide was examined. Using in situ hybridization combined with immunocytochemical staining for cell‐type characteristic markers, we demonstrate spatial and temporal expression patterns specific for each of the genes.

1 September 1993