1 May 1993

Graham R. Foster, Robert D. Goldin, Andrew Hay, Michael J. McGarvey, George R. Stark, Howard C. Thomas – 1 May 1993 – The terminal protein domain of the hepatitis B viral polymerase can inhibit the cellular response to interferon. To clarify the clinical relevance of this inhibitory effect, we examined the expression of terminal protein in liver biopsy specimens from patients with chronic hepatitis B infection.

Abraham P. Bautista, Zoltan Spolarics, Hartmut Jaeschke, C. Wayne Smith, John J. Spitzer – 1 May 1993 – Neutrophils and macrophages play an important role in the body's microbicidal defense and have been implicated in the induction of tissue injury in reperfusion, endotoxemia and septic shock. Cellular host defense is accompanied by enhanced glucose use. In this study we examined the effect of monoclonal antibody 1F12 on in vivo glucose use by selected tissues and hepatic phagocytes.

Dirk K. F. Meijer – 1 May 1993 – Bile acids are selectively taken up from portal blood into the liver by specific transport systems in the hepatocyte plasma membrane. Therefore, studies were performed to evaluate the potential of bile acids as shuttles to deliver drugs specifically to the liver. The alkylating cytostatic drug chlorambucii and the fluorescent prolyl‐4‐hydroxylase inhibitor 4‐nitrobenzo‐2‐oxa‐1,3‐diazol‐β‐Ala‐Phe‐5‐oxaproline‐Gly were covalently linked via an amide bond to 7α, 12α,‐dihydroxy‐3β‐(ω‐aminoalkoxy)‐5‐β‐cholan‐24‐oic acid.

1 May 1993

Françoise Roudot‐Thoraval, Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky, Valérie Thiers, Lionel Deforges, Pierre‐Paul Girollet, François Guillot, Christiane Huraux, Pascale Aumont, Christian Brechot, Daniel Dhumeaux – 1 May 1993 – The published risk of mother‐to‐infant transmission of hepatitis C virus varies according to the population studied and the tests used. In a prospective study we used the polymerase chain reaction to assess the risk of vertical transmission of hepatitis C virus in an unselected population of women uninfected by human immunodeficiency virus.

Kazuhiro Takahashi, Jiro Kudo, Hiromi Ishibashi, Yasuhiko Hirata, Yoshiyuki Niho – 1 May 1993 – We investigated 24 hepatocellular carcinomas in Japan to find loss of heterozygosity with 15 polymorphic DNA markers that detect allelic losses at specific chromosome loci. Loss of heterozygosity on chromosomes 10q, 17p and 22q was detected in 3 of 12 (25%), 9 of 21 (43%) and 5 of 15 (33%) informative cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, respectively.

Hartmut Jaeschke, Anwar Farhood, Abraham P. Bautista, Zoltan Spolarics, John J. Spitzer, C. Wayne Smith – 1 May 1993 – The role of neutrophil CD11b/CD18 (Mac‐1) adhesion proteins in the pathogenesis of hepatic reperfusion injury was investigated in an experimental model. Male Fischer rats were treated with a CD11b monoclonal antibody or an isotype‐matched IgM control antibody and subjected to 45 min of hepatic ischemia followed by 24 hr of reperfusion.

Robert Wondergem – 1 May 1993 – Protein synthesis in isolated rat hepatocytes was determined from the incorporation of [3H]leucine (4 mM) into acid‐precipitable material in the presence of amino acids at twice their physiological concentration. Protein synthesis increased linearly with time and incubated cell protein, and was inhibited by cycloheximide by more than 95%. In normo‐osmotic incubations containing amino acids at twice the physiological concentrations the rate of [3H]leucine incorporation was 5.8 ± 0.2 nmol/h per mg cell protein (n = 26).

Mohammed Sultan Khuroo, Ghulam Nabi Yattoo, Showkat Ali Zargar, Gul Javid, Mohammed Yousuf Dar, Bashir Ahmed Khan, Mohammed Iqbal Boda – 1 May 1993 – We prospectively studied 21 consecutive patients with extrahepatic portal venous obstruction for evidence of biliary tract disease. Two patients were first seen with extrahepatic cholestasis; another had recurrent cholangitis. All three patients with clinically manifest biliary disease were adults. Another five patients had icterus on clinical examination.