Hiroshi Adachi, Shuichi Kaneko, Eiki Matsushita, Yutaka Inagaki, Masashi Unoura, Kenichi Kobayashi – 1 December 1992 – The natural history of chronic hepatitis B patients who spontaneously cleared serum HBsAg was investigated. A total of 351 patients with chronic hepatitis B were observed in our hospital for at least 3 yr. Seven of these patients became HBsAg negative during the follow‐up period. HBsAg disappeared within 6 mo (range = 11 to 169 days, mean = 70 days) after acute elevation of ALT.

Christine Challen, John Lunec, William Warren, Jane Collier, Margaret F. Bassendine – 1 December 1992 – Human hepatocellular carcinomas from patients in Britain, an area of low prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma and low dietary exposure to aflatoxin B1, were analyzed for mutations in the p53 tumorsuppressor gene. Abnormalities in the p53 gene were detected in 2 of 19 hepatocellular carcinomas by polymerase chain reaction—single‐stranded conformation polymorphism.

Shinji Tanaka, Yasushi Toh, Hiroko Minagawa, Ryoichi Mori, Keizo Sugimachi, Yoichi Minamishima – 1 December 1992 – Human cytomegalovirus causes severe and often fatal infections in immunocompromised patients. After organ transplantation cytomegalovirus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is thought to be activated by alloreaction and to spread because of immunosuppression, and it may cause endogenous cytomegalovirus diseases. Patients with cirrhosis, one group of candidates for liver transplantation, often show various grades of immunosuppression before transplantation.

Tomoki Furuya, Noriko Murase, Kenjiro Nakamura, Jacky Woo, Satoru Todo, Anthony J. Demetris, Thomas E. Starzl – 1 December 1992 – The effect on liver and heart allograft survival (ACI rats to Lewis rats) was studied after three methods of recipient presensitization and after different intervals between sensitization and transplantation. With comparable lymphocytotoxic antibody titers, liver allografts always survived longer than heart grafts. The titer, class and specificity of the antibodies varied with the method of sensitization.

Shyh‐Chuan Jwo, Jen‐Hwey Chiu, Gar‐Yang Chau, Che‐Chuan Loong, Wing‐Yu Lui – 1 December 1992 – A total of 238 patients who received curative hepatic resections during the last 10 yr were observed to search for the risk factors linked to early tumor recurrence of human hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy. The results revealed that tumor size, tumor appearance and DNA ploidy were the factors in predicting tumor recurrence after resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Linda Ferrell, Teresa Wright, John Lake, John Roberts, Nancy Ascher – 1 December 1992 – In Japan, the presence of a large regenerative nodule within a cirrhotic liver, referred to as a macroregenerative nodule or adenomatous hyperplasia, is thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma. These lesions, however, have received little attention outside of Japan. We examined 110 sequentially explanted cirrhotic livers for the presence of such nodules.

1 December 1992

James Underhill, Peter Donaldson, Gary Bray, Derek Doherty, Bernard Portmann, Roger Williams – 1 December 1992 – In studies to date seeking associations between human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and primary biliary cirrhosis, no class I association but several different class II associations have been described. The aims of this study were to reassess the DR associations in primary biliary cirrhosis and to examine for the first time the role of DQB.

Akeshi Hirano, Neil Kaplowitz, Hidekazu Tsukamoto, Seiichiro Kamimura, Jose C. Fernandez‐Checa – 1 December 1992 – Long‐term ethanol feeding has been shown to selectively reduce hepatic mitochondrial glutathione content by impairing mitochondrial uptake of this thiol. In this study, we assessed the role of this defect in evolution of alcoholic liver disease by examining the mitochondrial glutathione pool and lipid peroxidation during progression of experimental alcoholic liver disease to centrilobular liver necrosis and fibrosis.

Shiv K. Sarin, Deepak Lahoti, Sanjay P. Saxena, Nandguri S. Murthy, Uday K. Makwana – 1 December 1992 – To determine the prevalence and natural history of gastric varices, we prospectively studied 568 patients (393 bleeders and 175 nonbleeders) with portal hypertension (cirrhosis in 301 patients, noncirrhotic portal fibrosis in 115 patients, extrahepatic portal vein obstruction in 117 patients and hepatic venous outflow obstruction in 35 patients).