Fredrick L. Weber, Brenda S. Bagby, Lucilla Licate, Steven G. Kelsen – 1 June 1990 – This study was conducted to determine whether an amino acid solution enriched with branched‐chain amino acids altered protein catabolic rates and plasma ammonia in patients with cirrhosis. Nine stable subjects were given two peripheral intravenous infusions: a standard amino acid solution (solution A) and a branched‐chain‐enriched solution containing 97% more leucine (solution B). Each solution was given for separate 9‐day (group 1, n = 6) or 3‐day (group 2, n = 3) periods.

1 June 1990

J. J. Visser, S. Meijer, Kentaro Yoshiko, Donald Cohen, Crig J McCleain – 1 June 1990

Norio Ogata, Takashi Tokino, Tomoteru Kamimura, Hitoshi Asakura – 1 June 1990 – To elucidate critical genetic elements in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma associated with hepatitis B virus DNA integration, a single integrant in hepatocellular carcinoma cells and one species of multiple integrants in hepatocytes, both obtained from the same patient, were compared structurally using molecular cloning techniques. Both hepatitis B virus integrants showed similar inverted repeat sequences consisting of two defective virus genomes.

Josep Teres, Ramon Planas, Julia Panes, Joan Manel Salmeron, Antoni Mas, Jaime Bosch, Covadonga Llorente, Josep Viver, Faust Feu, Joan Rodés – 1 June 1990 – Vasopressin infusion and esophageal tamponade are still widely used to arrest variceal bleeding, but no objective evidence exists on the superiority of either of the two procedures.

Saburo Kakizoe, Katsuhiko Yanaga, Thomas E. Starzl, A. Jake Demetris – 1 June 1990 – Light microscopic, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural analysis of protocol before transplantation and after reperfusion biopsy specimens from 87 randomly selected patients was performed to assess the contribution of preservation and immunological injury to early graft failure. Most biopsy specimens were essentially normal by light microscopy before transplantatio, and no particular feature could be relied on to predict function after transplantation.

Robert S. Britton, Marco Ferrali, Christopher J. Magiera, Richard O. Recknagel, Bruce R. Bacon – 1 June 1990 – In the iron‐loaded liver there may be an increase in the putative intracellular transit pool of iron, components of which could be catalytically active in stimulating lipid peroxidation. To study the levels of low‐molecular‐weight, catalytically active iron in the liver, cytosolic ultrafiltrates were tested in an assay containing rat liver microsomes and NADPH. Malondialdehyde production was used as an index of lipid peroxidation.

Yasuni Nakanuma, Tadashi Terada, Kenji Doishita, Atsushi Miwa – 1 June 1990 – A survey of Japanese autopsy cases of primary biliary cirrhosis disclosed that hepatocellular carcinoma is apparently becoming a better recognized complication of the advanced stage of primary biliary cirrhosis. Six autopsy cases (five women and one man) of primary biliary cirrhosis associated with hepatocellular carcinoma were obtained from several Japanese institutions and examined. All cases were in an established cirrhotic stage of primary biliary cirrhosis.

David R. Fregeau, Thomas Prindiville, Ross L. Coppel, Marshall Kaplan, E. Rolland Dickson, M. Eric Gershwin – 1 June 1990 – Sera from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis contain autoantibodies that recognize mitochondrial proteins. Five of the target autoantigens have now been identified as enzymes of three related multienzyme complexes: the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, the branched chain α‐ketoacid dehydrogenase complex and the α‐ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex. Each complex consists of component enzymes designated E1, E2 and E3.

Joseph A. Alcorn, Steven P. Feitelberg, David A. Brenner – 1 June 1990 – The cellular oncogene c‐jun is transiently expressed in cultured cells stimulated to proliferate but has not been identified in normal liver. Because partial hepatectomy results in coordinated cell proliferation in the remaining liver, we investigated c‐jun expression after partial hepatectomy in mice. Northern analysis of whole liver mRNA demonstrated a transient increased expression of c‐jun within half an hour of the operation.