Caryn M. Berkowitz – 1 December 1992 – A novel feedback regulatory mechanism operating on transcription of the albumin gene is described in the rat. In 1946, it was proposed that circulating colloids, including serum albumin, may affect the synthesis and/or secretion of albumin in the liver. The molecular basis for this proposed regulation has now been inves tigated by adding oncotically active macromolecules to the circulation of normal or genetically albumin‐deficient Nagase analbuminemic rats (NAR) and analyzing the hepatic expression of genes, including albumin after 24 h.

William G. Rector – 1 December 1992

Frank Iber – 1 December 1992

Ran Tur‐Kaspa, Athalia Klein, Shlomit Aharonson – 1 December 1992 – Hepatitis B virus carriers in Israel are mostly HBeAg negative, of whom 5% to 10% have circulating hepatitis B virus. Recently, a hepatitis B virus variant with a stop codon in the precore region was identified, and it was suggested that specific mutations are associated with fulminant or severe chronic active hepatitis. We have analyzed serum samples from HBeAg‐positive and HBeAg‐negative patients by polymerase chain reaction, using primers spanning the precore/core region.

1 December 1992

1 December 1992

Ricardo Bastos, Pablo Engel, Cristina Pujades, Rocco Falchetto, Rosa Aligué, Oriol Bachs – 1 December 1992 – An increase of a 45 kD protein (p45) in the nuclear matrix has been observed when rat liver cells were proliferatively activated in vivo by a partial hepatectomy. The maximal levels of the association of p45 with the nuclear matrix have been detected 24 hr after hepatectomy just at the time when DNA replication is also maximal. By amino acid sequence analysis, immunoblotting and immunocytochemical methods, it has been demonstrated that p45 is identical to rat cytokeratin D.

Wolfgang Hagmann, Hans Jörg Hacker, Ulrike Buchholz – 1 December 1992 – During anaphylaxis the sensitized liver can have substantial capacity for leukotriene production. However, the intrahepatic cellular source for these potent eicosanoid mediators has been unclear so far.

David W. Crabb – 1 December 1992 – The human class I alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) gene family consists of ADH1, ADH2, and ADH3, which are sequentially activated in early fetal, late fetal, and postnatal liver, respectively. Analysis of ADH promoters revealed differential activation by several factors previously shown to control liver transcription. In cotransfection assays, the ADH1 promoter, but not the ADH2 or ADH3 promoter, was shown to respond to hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 (HNF‐1), which has previously been shown to regulate transcription in early liver development.

François Bissuel, Thierry Bizollon, Frédérique Dijoud, Paul Bouletreau, Jean François Cordier, Charles Chazot, Christian Gouillat, Christian Trepo – 1 December 1992 – We observed life‐threatening intrapulmonary hemorrhages and focal proliferative glomerulonephritis in a 41‐yr‐old woman with primary biliary cirrhosis. The severity of the symptoms necessitated blood transfusions and mechanical ventilation; the patient improved with the help of corticosteroid therapy. No formal evidence of either Goodpasture's syndrome or any other well‐defined systemic vasculitis could be found.