1 April 1991

Alessandro Casini, Mike Cunningham, Marcos Rojkind, Charles S. Lieber – 1 April 1991 – We previously reported that acetaldehyde increases the production of type I collagen in cultured rat fat‐storing cells. We studied the regulation of this effect by determining the expression of procollagen type I, fibronectin and transforming growth factor‐β1 messenger RNAs in passage 1 and 2 cultures of fatstoring cells exposed to acetaldehyde for up to 24 hr.

Pamela M. Lindroos, Reza Zarnegar, George K. Michalopoulos – 1 April 1991 – An enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the level of hepatocyte growth factor in rat plasma at various times after two‐thirds partial hepatectomy or CCl4 administration. An initial 17‐fold rise and 13‐fold rise in the level of hepatocyte growth factor was observed 2 hr after partial hepatectomy and CCl4 treatment, respectively, well before the onset of DNA synthesis in the liver.

Kunio Okuda, Yoichiro Kondo, Masayuki Nakano, Masayoshi Kage, Masahiro Arakawa, Masamichi Kojiro, Toshio Ohtsuki, Yutaka Shimokawa, Masao Hirata, Kunihiko Kohno – 1 April 1991 – In the past 26 years we have encountered five patients with primary liver malignancy clinically characterized by high remittent fever and leukocytosis mimicking liver abscess. Two patients underwent exploratory laparotomy, and drainage was carried out in another. The clinical courses went rapidly downhill. The liver was cirrhotic in two patients.

Pierre M. E. Solbreux, Paul Maldague, Jean Pierre Vaerman – 1 April 1991 – Another group of researchers has reported that seven intraperitoneal injections into mice of purified human serum IgA or normal human serum–but not IgA‐deficient serum, mouse serum or saline–induced considerable growth of the extrahepatic bile duct epithelium. They stated that heterologous IgA was principally responsible for this effect.

Anna Mae Diehl, Hanna Cathrine Bisgaard, Betsy T. Kren, Clifford J. Steer – 1 April 1991 – The effects of chronic ethanol consumption on enzyme systems involved in carcinogen activation and detoxification were studied in a rat model of liver regeneration. In control rats, steady‐state messenger RNAs of cytochrome P450j decreased 12 to 24 hr after partial hepatectomy but were fully recovered by 48 to 72 hr. In contrast, messenger RNA levels of cytochrome P450b and P450d did not vary significantly during that period.

Winston L. Hutchinson, Ming‐Qing Du, Philip J. Johnson, Roger Williams – 1 April 1991 – To determine whether abnormal metabolism of l‐fucose in hepatocellular carcinoma is accompanied by alterations in the activities of fucosyltransferases, the latter were determined in plasma and liver tissue of patients with this disease and in cirrhotic and normal subjects. Activities of α‐2/α‐3 and α‐6‐l ‐fucosyltransferases were all significantly greater in plasma from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma than in plasma from cirrhotic patients or normal subjects (p < 0.025).

Katriina Nikkilä, Krister Höckerstedt, Tatu A.

Hubertus Wietholtz, Hanns‐Ulrich Marschall, Regina Reuschenbach, Heidrun Matern, Siegfried Matern – 1 April 1991 – Recently the formation of bile acid glucosides has been described as a novel conjugation mechanism in vitro and in vivo. In 10 patients with extrahepatic cholestasis caused by carcinoma of the head of the pancreas we investigated excretion rates and profiles of urinary bile acid glucosides. Urinary bile acid glucosides and, for comparison, bile acid glucuronides were extracted and characterized according to established methods.

Bennie L. Baker, Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, Shuichi Kaneko, Roger Miller, Stephen M. Feinstone, Jeanne G. Waggoner, Jay H. Hoofnagle – 1 April 1991 – Sera from 98 patients with various stages of chronic hepatitis B virus infection were studied to determine the clinical significance of hepatitis B virus DNA in serum detected by the polymerase chain reaction. Patients were divided into three groups according to their HBsAg and HBeAg status.