1 August 1991

Pei‐Jer Chen, Meei‐Hua Lin, Su‐Jen Tu, Ding‐Shinn Chen – 1 July 1991 – To clone and characterize hepatitis C virus strains present in Taiwan, RNA was extracted from liver tissue collected from a patient during the acute phase of posttransfusion non‐A, non‐B hepatitis. RNA was then subjected to complementary DNA synthesis and the polymerase chain reaction, using primers derived from the original nucleotide sequence of the United States hepatitis C virus strain.

Telfer B. Reynolds – 1 July 1991 – In a double‐blind randomized trial, the hemodynamic events following the administration of propranolol (n = 51) or a placebo (n = 51) were prospectively studied in cirrhotic patients with esophageal varices. The hepatic venous pressure gradient, heart rate, and variceal size were determined at the baseline and 3, 12, and 24 months after the beginning of therapy. Baseline values were similar in both groups.

Ned Ballatori – 1 July 1991 – The liver is the major organ which eliminates leukotriene C4 (LTC4) and other cysteinyl leukotrienes from the blood circulation into bile. Transport of LTC4 was studied using inside‐out vesicles enriched in canalicular and sinusoidal membranes from rat liver. The incubation of canalicular membrane vesicles with [3H]LTC4 in the presence of ATP resulted in an uptake of LTC4 into vesicles. The initial rate of ATP‐stimulated LTC4 uptake was about 40‐fold higher in canalicular than in sinusoidal membrane vesicles.

Lori A. Bottalico, Hannah T. Betensky, Young B. Min, Shelley B. Weinstock – 1 July 1991 – One drawback to using perfluorochemical emulsions as blood substitutes is that perfluorochemical particles are cleared from the blood by the reticuloendothelial system, primarily liver and spleen. We measured the impact of two perfluorochemical emulsions on clearance of colloidal carbon (< 1 μm) and 51Cr‐sheep red blood cells (about 8 μm) by the reticuloendothelial system in vivo and in the isolated perfused liver.

1 July 1991

Yashushi Yamaguchi, William G. M. Hardison – 1 July 1991 – During a recent study using isolated perfused rat liver, we concluded that the effects of vasopressin on biliary excretion of several anionic and cationic cholephilic probes could best be explained by passive diffusion of these probes through a paracellular pathway with permeability increased by vasopressin.

Antonio Francavilla, Thomas E. Starzl, Michele Barone, Qi‐Hua Zeng, Kendrick A. Porter, Adrianni Zeevi, Peter M. Markus, Marcell R. M. van den Brink, Satoru Todo – 1 July 1991 – Evidence could not be found of immune modulation of liver regeneration. The powerful immunosuppressive drug FK 506, which augments the response after partial hepatectomy in normal rats, had the same effect in T cell—deficient nude rats. The cytotoxicity of natural killer cells in treated nude rats was not significantly changed by FK 506 therapy.

Yolanta T. Kruszynska, Philip D. Home, Neil McIntyre – 1 July 1991 – Hepatic insulin extraction is difficult to measure in humans; as a result, the interrelationship between defective insulin secretion and insulin insensitivity in the pathogenesis of glucose intolerance in cirrhosis remains unclear. To reassess this we used recombinant human C‐peptide to measure C‐peptide clearance in cirrhotic patients and controls and thus derive C‐peptide and insulin secretion rates after a 75‐gm oral glucose load and during a 10 mmol/L hyperglycemic clamp.

Juan Antonio Quiroga, María Luz Campillo, Inmaculada Catillo, Javier Bartolomé, Juan Carlos Porres, Vicente Carreño – 1 July 1991 – To assess possible role of testing for IgM‐specific antibody in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with hepatitis C, we tested sera from 14 patients with acute and 97 patients with chronic non‐A, non‐B hepatitis for IgG and IgM antibody to hepatitis C virus. IgG antibody to hepatitis C virus was detected in 93% of acute cases and 91% of chronic cases. Of the 101 patients with IgG antibody to hepatitis C virus, 57% had IgM antibody to hepatitis C virus.