Giampaolo Bianchi, Giulio Marchesini, Hendrik Vilstrup, Andrea Fabbri, Maria Stella De Mitri, Marco Zoli, Emilo Pisiél – 1 March 1991 – The functional hepatic nitrogen clearance during amino acid infusion is a measure of liver cell mass. The clinical feasibility of the test has so far been limited by methodological problems. A simplified procedure was used to measure the urea‐nitrogen synthesis rate and functional hepatic nitrogen clearance in nine subjects with normal liver function and in nine patients with cirrhosis.

Philip Carthew, Richard E. Edwards, Andrew G. Smith, Barbara Dorman, Jean E. Francis – 1 March 1991 – The parenteral administration of iron‐dextran complex to gerbils caused hepatic hemosiderosis and fibrosis after 6 wk. Type I and III collagen synthesis in the liver developed from perisinusoidal stellate cells that are often referred to as myofibroblasts. Immunohistologically these cells were shown to have large intracellular deposits of ferritin.

Patrick Marcellin, Nathalie Boyer, Emile Giostra, Claude Degott, Anne Marie Courouce, FrançOise Degos, Henri Coppere, Paul Cales, Patrice Couzigou, Jean‐Pierre Benhamou – 1 March 1991 – We have conducted a multicenter randomized controlled trial comparing two doses of recombinant human α‐interferon for efficacy in 60 patients with chronic non‐A, non‐B hepatitis. The source of infection appeared to be transfusion in 30 patients, intravenous drug abuse in 16 patients and was unknown in 14 patients.

Pietro Lampertico, James S. Malter, Michael A. Gerber – 1 March 1991 – The development of effective anti‐hepatitis B virus agents has been hampered by the lack of reliable in vitro systems for the screening of new therapeutics. In an effort to circumvent this problem, we have developed an in vitro system for screening antihepatitis B virus drugs using hepatitis B virus DNAtransfected Hep G2 cells. The cell line designated 2.2.15 produces replicative viral DNA intermediates, mature Dane particles and high levels of viral antigens.

Jorge J. Gumucio, J. Donald Ostrow – 1 March 1991 – The bile acids in brown pigment stones and gallbladder bile were fractionated into free acids, glycine and taurine conjugates, and sulfates, using diethylamino‐hydroxypropyl‐Sephadex LH‐20 (DEAPLH‐20) column chromatography, and were quantitated by gas chromatography. Twenty‐eight cases of brown pigment stones were studied and divided into two groups: those with and those without bacteria possessing bile acid‐deconjugating activity.

Raymond S. Koff – 1 March 1991

Antonina Smedile, Floriano Rosina, Giorgio Saracco, Elisabetta Chiaberge, Valter Lattore, Antonina Fabino, Maurizia R. Brunetto, Giorgio Verme, Mario Rizzetto, Ferruccio Bonino – 1 March 1991 – Hepatitis D virus and hepatitis B virus nucleic acids were detected by Northern and Southern blot hybridlzation in the sera and livers of 85 chronic carriers of HBsAg and anti‐hepatitis D followed up for a mean of 10 yr.

Kazuo Shimada, Jiro Yanagisawa, Fumio Nakayama – 1 March 1991 – A high incidence of inflammation and carcinoma of the biliary tract in patients with anomalous pancreaticobiliary ductal junction has been well documented. The change in biliary phospholipids as a result of the reflux of pancreatic juice into the biliary tract through anomalous pancreaticobiliary ductal junction may be responsible for it. We developed a new method of analysis of phospholipid classes using aminopropyl Bond Elut cartridge for extraction and highperformance liquid chromatography for separation.

Catherine Dubé, Sylvie Vallières, Chantal Éthier, Nawel Benbrahim, Chantale Tremblay, Marielle Gascon‐Barré – 1 March 1991 – To test further the competence of the cirrhotic liver to metabolize vitamin D3 at C‐25, hepatocytes were isolated from controls and from CCl4‐induced cirrhotic rat livers, as well as from partially hepatectomized rats. The transformation of D3 into 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 was studied in the presence of 107 hepatocytes at D3 concentrations of 20 nmol/L to 15.4 μmol/L.

Shiv K. Sarin, Piergiorgio Mosca, Carlo Sabbà, Roberto J. Groszmann – 1 March 1991 – Chronic murine schistosomiasis is a natural disease model of portal hypertension closely mimicking the clinical and histological features of human hepatic schistosomiasis. We studied the splanchnic and systemic hemodynamics in the murine model of schistosomiasis by radioactive microsphere technique. Mice infected with 60 cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni (n = 8) were studied hemodynamically 11 wk after the infection and were compared with age‐matched healthy controls (n = 11).