Mei Mao‐Hua, An Wei, Zhang Bao‐Hong, Shao Qing, Gong De‐Zheng – 1 April 1993 – Hepatic stimulator substance was extracted from the liver of weanling Sprague‐Dawley rats according to the method of LaBrecque. Quang‐Ming mice were injected with carbon tetrachloride to induce acute liver failure. Hepatic stimulator substance suppressed the elevation of ALT and AST induced by carbon tetrachloride in a dose‐dependent manner.

Hani M. Rashed, Hui Sun, Tarun B. Patel – 1 April 1993 – To investigate whether atrial natriuretic factor regulates the growth of hepatocytes and to determine the receptor subtype involved in such modulation, we studied the effect of atrial natriuretic factor 103–126 and clearance receptor binding analogs of atrial natriuretic factor, (des‐(Q116, S117, G118, L119, G120) atrial natriuretic factor 102–121 and des‐(C105,121) atrial natriuretic factor 104–126) on growth of human hepatoblastoma cells.

James P. Corsetti, Janet D. Sparks, Barbara Sikora, Charles E. Sparks – 1 April 1993 – Hepatocellular heterogeneity of biochemical function is well established for many aspects of liver metabolism. This study addresses the question of cellular heterogeneity in the catabolism of low‐density lipoprotein by rat hepatocytes. Low‐density lipo‐protein binding (4° C) and uptake (37° C) by rat hepatocytes were studied by use of human low‐density lipoprotein labeled with a highly fluorescent lipophilic probe, N, N‐dipentadecylaminostyrylpyridinium iodide, recently developed by us.

S. K. Sarin, V. Bhatia – 1 April 1993 – Background. Endoscopic sclerotherapy is an accepted treatment for bleeding esophageal varices, but it is associated with substantial local and systemic complications. Endoscopic ligation, a new form of endoscopic treatment for bleeding varices, may be safer. We compared the effectiveness and safety of the two techniques.

Mar Decastro, Javier Sánchez, Jesús F. Herrera, Asunción Cháves, Rafael Durán, Luisa García ‐Buey, Carmelo García‐Monzón, Julia Sequí, Ricardo Moreno‐Otero – 1 April 1993 – The recent identification of the hepatitis C virus and development of assays to detect antibodies to hepatitis C virus has allowed assessment of the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in patients with a variety of liver and other diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies and severity of liver injury in patients with porphyria cutanea tarda.

Hideki Hagiwara, Norio Hayashi, Eiji Mita, Masafumi Naito, Akinori Kasahara, Hideyuki Fusamoto, Takenobu Kamada – 1 April 1993 – We describe a method for quantifying hepatitis C virus RNA in serum. This competitive assay combines reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction and is based on coamplification of the target RNA with known amounts of synthetic mutated RNA.

Jean‐François Mosnier, Claude Degott, Patrick Marcellin, Dominique Hénin, Serge Erlincer, Jean‐Pierre Benhamou – 1 March 1993 – Intraportal lymphoid nodules have been observed in liver biopsy specimens from patients with autoimmune liver disease and chronic active hepatitis C. They are characterized by a nodular lymphocyte aggregate with a germinal center. The purpose of this in situ immunophenotyping study was to determine immunohistochemically the phenotype of immunocompetent cells in and around intraportal lymphoid nodules in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Theresa C. Peterson – 1 March 1993 – Liver fibrosis is a complex process characterized by two major events: fibroproliferation and increased collagen synthesis. The exact role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis remains to be established, but platelet‐derived growth factor clearly stimulates proliferation of fibroblasts and increases collagen synthesis. In in vitro studies, pentoxifylline, a methylxanthine, significantly reduced platelet‐derived growth factor–driven proliferation of fibroblasts.

Junichi Shoda, Anders Toll, Magnus Axelson, Fritz Pieper, Kjell Wikvall, Jan Sjövall – 1 March 1993 – In a search for enzymes involved in the formation of bile acids from 27‐hydroxycholesterol in humans, the metabolism of this and other side‐chain oxygenated steroids was studied in human liver microsomes and mitochondria. The microsomal fraction contained enzyme(s) catalyzing 7α‐hydroxylation of 27‐hydroxycholesterol and 3β‐hydroxy‐5‐cholestenoic acid, whereas the 7α‐hydroxylation of cholesterol and 3β‐hydroxy‐5‐cholenoic acid was low.

Luisa García‐Buey, Miguel López‐Botet, Asunción García‐Sánchez, María A. Balboa, José Aramburu, Carmelo García‐Monzón, Agustín Acevedo, Ricardo Moreno‐Otero – 1 March 1993 – Cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes recognize viral antigens in the context of human leukocyte antigen class I molecule coexpression by target cells. Analysis of β2‐microglobulin reactivity is useful in evaluating changes in human leukocyte antigen class I antigen distribution.