Joseph M. Alcorn, Joshua Fierer, Mario Chojkier – 1 January 1992 – D‐Galactosamine is an hepatocyte‐specific inhibitor of RNA synthesis. It has been used to sensitize animals both to the lethal effects of bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) and to a principal lipopolysaccharide‐induced mediator of shock, tumor necrosis factor–α. The mechanism by which this sensitization occurs is unknown.

Jacquelyn J. Maher – 1 January 1992 – After partial hepatectomy, the liver is capable of complete regeneration, restoring normal hepatic size, architecture, and function. To study the role of the extracellular matrix in regeneration, the temporal and spatial sequence of deposition of several of its components, including collagen types I, III, and IV, laminin, and fibronectin, in rat liver, after an 80% hepatectomy, was characterized by light microscopy immunohistochemistry. A minimum of five animals were studied for each date.

Takao Inagaki, Susumu Kobayashi, Norio Ozeki, Masahiro Suzuki, Yoshitaka Fukuzawa, Kazuhito Shimizu, Katsuhisa Kato, Katsumi Kato – 1 January 1992 – Ultrastructural identification of light microscopic giant mitochondria was performed on the same specimens for light and electron microscopic observations. The liver tissue specimens were fixed in OsO4, embedded in epoxy resin, cut 4 μm thick and stained with polychrome. At the beginning of the study a light microscopic observation was made, and a microphotograph was taken.

1 January 1992

Yuji Togashi, Yu Li, Jong‐Hon Kang, Noritoshi Takeichi, Yasunori Fujioka, Kazuo Nagashima, Hiroshi Kobayashi – 1 January 1992 – The Long‐Evans Cinnamon rat is a mutant strain that contracts hereditary hepatitis and, eventually, spontaneous hepatocellular carcinoma. Because we found a corresponding gross copper accumulation in the liver of the rats, we examined whether the development of hepatitis in our rat system could be prevented by administration of D‐penicillamine.

Seigo Kitano, Yasunori Iso, Makoto Hashizume, Hirohiko Yamaga, Nobuhiro Koyanagi, Hiroya Wada, Tetsuya Iwanaga, Masayuki Ohta, Keizo Sugimachi – 1 January 1992 – Ninety‐six patients with good liver function (Child class A or B) and esophageal varices were randomly assigned to one of three groups given different treatments: endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (n = 32), esophageal transection (n = 32) or distal splenorenal shunt (n = 32).

Michael H. Nathanson, Anil Gautam, Rafael Bruck, Carlos M. Isales, James L. Boyer – 1 January 1992 – The effects of increases in cytosolic Ca2+ on hepatocyte bile secretion are unknown. A number of agents that alter levels of cytosolic Ca2+ in the hepatocyte also produce hepatic vasoconstriction and activate protein kinase C, which complicates interpretations of their effects on bile secretion.

Marie‐gwenaëlle Poullain, Alain Fautrel, Claire Guyomard, Christophe Chesne, Luc Grislain, André Guillouzo – 1 January 1992 – Hepatocytes isolated from adult rat livers were hypothermically preserved for 24 or 48 hr before being plated under conventional culture conditions. They were stored either in the Leibovitz medium, a cell culture medium with and without polyethylene glycol (PEG), a compound known to suppress ischemia‐induced cell swelling, or in the University of Wisconsin solution, the most effective solution for cold organ preservation.

George K. Michalopoulos, Reza Zarnegar – 1 January 1992 – The two papers in this issue of HEPATOLOGY (1, 2) dealing with hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) underscore the increasing importance of this novel growth factor in relation to hepatic growth biology. The emerging literature has already established HGF as a growth factor with potential importance not only for the liver but for other tissues such as the kidney, placenta, brain, lung, pancreas and hemopoietic tissues.

Christine Silvain, Luc de Bayser, Gerard Agius, Alain Sadoun, Michel Beauchant – 1 January 1992