Michael J. Krowka, Patricia M. Grambsch, Eric S. Edell, Denis A. Cortese, E. Rolland Dickson – 1 June 1991 – We studied the relationship between selected variables of hepatic and pulmonary function in 47 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, who were participating in a prospective study to assess sequential pulmonary function at yearly intervals. An additional 20 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, who were liver transplant candidates awaiting transplantation, were studied. None of the 67 patients ever smoked cigarettes.

Kiyohiko Kurai, Shiro Iino, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, Kazumi Shimoda, Kunihiko Hino – 1 June 1991 – We have separated circulating HBeAg into small and large molecular forms by agarose gel electrophoresis and analyzed the relationship between the two forms and other clinical features of chronic hepatitis B, especially in regard to liver cell damage.

Kazuaki Chayama, Satoshi Saitoh, Yasuji Arase, Kenji Ikeda, Toyomi Matsumoto, Yoko Sakai, Mariko Kobayashi, Masamitsu Unakami, Tsuto Morinagaa, Hiromitsu Kumada – 1 June 1991 – Hepatitis C virus RNA as detected by reverse transcription and nested polymerase chain reaction was monitored in 16 patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon. Hepatitis C virus RNA became undetectable after 4 to 8 wk of interferon administration in 13 of the 16 patients.

1 June 1991

Albert Geerts, Jean‐Marc Lazou, Pieter de Bleser, Eddie Wisse – 1 June 1991 – In this study, we have investigated the cell population kinetics of fat‐storing cells in livers of rats intoxicated with CCl4. Fat‐storing cells were identified in cryostat sections by immunoperoxidase staining of desmin. The peroxidase label was visualized using diaminobenzidine/hydrogen peroxide containing Ni2+ and Co2+‐ions (Nico/diaminobenzidine method). In normal rats, we found 12.8 fat‐storing cells/0.1 mm2 in periportal areas vs. 9.4 in pericentral fields.

Giacomo Laffi, Fabio Marra, Giampiero Buzzelli, Giuseppe Azzena, Egidio Meacci, Maria Laura De Feo, Giorgio La Villa, Paolo Gentilini – 1 June 1991 – In a randomized double‐blind trial we compared the effects of torasemide, a new loop diuretic, and furosemide in nonazotemic cirrhotic patients with ascites during a 3‐day period in association with potassium canrenoate (200 mg/day) administration. Doses of loop diuretics administered in this trial (10 and 25 mg/day of torasemide and furosemide, respectively) had been shown to be equipotent in healthy subjects.

Elizabeth M. Brunt, Heather White, J. Wallis Marsh, Barbel Holtmann, Marion G. Peters – 1 June 1991 – A previously healthy but obese 26‐yr‐old woman was diagnosed as having hepatic dysfunction 17 days after the third of three consecutive exposures to isoflurane anesthesia for paranasal sinus surgery. Serum laboratory findings included elevated aminotransferases and bilirubin. Radiographical evaluations showed no evidence of extrahepatic disease. Serological studies were negative for acute viral infections, and serum copper was normal.

Mary F. Chan, John R. Lake – 1 June 1991 – Relatively hydrophobic bile acids have been shown to produce some hepatotoxicity, whereas treatment with a more hydrophilic bile acid, ursodeoxycholic acid, has improved liver function indices in patients with certain chronic liver diseases. Taurine‐conjugated bile acids are more hydrophilic than glycine‐conjugated bile acids, and thus, taurine administration has also been suggested for the treatment of chronic hepatitis.

Anna Björkland, Roger Festin, Ib Mendel‐Hartvig, Anders Nyberg, Lars Lööf, Thomas H. Tötterman – 1 June 1991 – We used two‐color and three‐color flow cytometric analysis to study phenotypical activation and functional subsets of T and natural killer cells in the blood and liver tissue of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, other chronic liver diseases and the blood of healthy subjects.

Anthony Foong, John V. Scholes, Gerald J. Gleich, G. M. Kephart, Peter R. Holt – 1 June 1991 – A 19‐yr‐old man had features of chronic hepatitis with piecemeal necrosis as the sole clinical feature of the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome. Liver biopsy specimens demonstrated the presence of activated eosinophils and, by immunohistochemical staining, major basic protein in areas of hepatic cell damage.