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.

Albert J. Czaja – 1 June 1990 – To evaluate the efficacy of low‐dose corticosteroid therapy after multiple relapses of severe HBsAg negative chronic active hepatitis, 22 patients who had relapsed on 3.4 ± 0.4 occasions (range = two to seven relapses) were treated with the lowest dose of medication necessary to ameliorate symptoms and maintain serum AST activity below five‐fold normal. Results were compared with those in 31 patients who had received conventional retreatments after 3.4 ± 0.3 relapses (range = two to eight relapses).

Robert P. Cornell – 1 June 1990 – The purpose of this study was to support the hypothesis that cytokines such as interleukin‐1, tumor necrosis factor and interleukin‐6 are released by macrophages or monocytes within 1 to 2 hr of phagocytosis of circulating, gut‐derived backterial lipopolysaccharide translocated by acute liver injury. Time courses of fever, neutrophilia and low blood‐zinc levels generally attributed to cytokines were quantified after partial (37%) hepatectomy of rats under ether anesthesia.

Harold O. Conn – 1 June 1990 – Fifty patients with non‐cirrhotic portal fibrosis who were admitted to hospital because of upper gastrointestinal bleeding were randomly assigned to treatment with either oral propranolol given in does that reduced the resting pulse rate by 25% (25 patients) or with a placebo (25 patients). One year after the start of the study 20 patients in the propranolol group and five patients in the placebo group were free from recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding (p < 0.0001).

Rebecca Dersimonian – 1 June 1990 – The authors undertook a meta analysis of nine randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in which modified amino acid solutions that contained supplemental amounts of branched‐chain amino acida (BCAA) were compared with other forms of therapy of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). When five RCTs were pooled, analysis showed highly significant improvement in the degree of HE (p < 0.001). Various interpretations of the data gave similar reslts. The mortality data differed so widely in these RCTs that pooling of the data could not be meaningfully performed.

Donald L. Kaminski, Hootan Daneshmand, Philip Dean, Yashwant G. Deshpande – 1 June 1990 – Current information suggests that arachidonic acid metabolites are involved in the development of cholecystitis. The purpose of this study was to evalute eicosanoid formation during the development of experimental cholecystitis in cats. Lysophosphatidylcholine is found in the gallbladders of patients with cholecystitis and is known to be a cytolytic, membrane damaging substance. Anesthetized cats underwent gallbladder perfusion with and without 1.5 mmol/L lysophosphatidylcholine.

Chantal Marteau, Bernard Sastre, Nicola Iconomidis, Henri Portugal, Anne‐Marie Pauli, André Gérolami – 1 June 1990 – Samples of gallbladder bile obtained from 25 controls and 34 patients with pigment (28 cases) or cholesterol (6 cases) gallstones were studied to establish whether disturbances in regulation of the biliary pH are likely to play a role in the pathogenesis of gallstones. Samples were assayed for pH, Pco2 and concentrations of sodium, bicarbonate and calcium (total and ionized). Saturation of bile in calcium carbonate was calculated.

Kirsten D. Bentsen, Jens H. Henriksen, Flemming Bendtsen, Kim Hørslev‐Petersen, Ib Lorenzen – 1 June 1990 – Splanchnic and renal extraction of circulating aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen and related antigens were studied in 12 patients with normal liver function and in 19 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis during catheterization.

1 June 1990