Rachel Levy, Francisc Schlaeffer, Arie Keynan, Ofra Nagauker, Arie Yaari, Emanuel Sikuler – 1 May 1993 – Neutrophil function was studied in rats with common bile duct ligation. Superoxide production stimulated by phorhol myristate acetate, opsonized zymosan or formyl‐methionyl‐leucyl‐phenylalanine; phagocytosis; and chemotaxis were significantly greater in neutrophils from rats with common bile duct ligation than in sham‐operated control rats. Enhanced neutrophil activity was observed within 12 hr of bile duct ligation; it remained increased during the 15‐day study.

Takashi Mori, Takeshi Okanoue, Yoshihiko Sawa, Naoki Hori, Masaharu Ohta, Keizo Kagawa – 1 May 1993 – We characterized the structural and immunohistological changes of sinusoidal endothelial cells that occur during cirrhosis in rats made cirrhotic with thioacetamide. Thioacetamide (200 mg/kg body wt) was injected intraperitoneally three times a week into male Wistar rats.

Ronald J. Sokol, Michael Devereaux, Rhashmi Khandwala, Kevin O'Brien – 1 May 1993 – The mechanisms by which hydrophobic bile acids are toxic to the liver are unknown. To determine whether the generation of free radicals is involved in the hepatotoxicity of bile acids, freshly isolated rat hepatocytes were incubated with individual bile acids (100 to 200 μmol/L) for 4 hr. Hepatocyte viability (trypan blue exclusion) declined to 40% to 50% in incubations with taurochenodeoxycholic acid and taurolithocholic acid, whereas taurocholic acid and tauroursodeoxycholic acid were not toxic.

Jaime Chesta, Claudia Defilippi, Carlos Defilippi – 1 May 1993 – Because altered intestinal motility could be involved in the pathogenesis of small intestine bacterial overgrowth observed in some patients with cirrhosis, we investigated fasting proximal small bowel motility in 16 cirrhotic patients and 8 healthy controls. In addition, the effects of oral tetracycline administration on duodenal motility were investigated in seven cirrhotic patients with evidence of bacterial overgrowth. The mean duration and characteristics of the migrating motor complex were analyzed.

Mikihiro Tsutsumi, Sachio Urashima, Yoshiro Matsuda, Shujiro Takase, Akira Takada – 1 May 1993 – An increase of serum type IV collagen levels in patients with liver disease has been reported; however, the mechanisms of this increase are not yet well known. We recently developed an assay system for type IV collagen content in liver biopsy specimens. In this study, type IV collagen content in the livers and sera of patients with alcoholic liver disease and nonalcoholic liver disease was determined.

Masatoshi Kudo, Akio Todo, Katsuji Ikekubo, Kazutaka Yamamoto, David R. Vera, Robert C. Stadalnik – 1 May 1993 – Technetium 99m diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid–galactosyl human serum albumin is a newly developed analog ligand to asialoglycoprotein receptor, which is a hepatic cell surface receptor specific for galactose‐terminated glycoproteins. Hepatic functional imaging, which yields estimates of asialoglycoprotein receptor concentration, was performed after intravenous injection of 3 mg technetium 99m diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid–galactosyl human serum albumin.

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.

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).

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.

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.