Roger F. Butterworth – 1 April 1990 – The neuropeptide diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI) is an endogeneous allosteric modulator of gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors at the benzodiazepine recognition site. Recent theories on the neurochemical cause for hepatic encephalopathy have implicated activation of inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA systems. In 20 patients with hepatic disease, blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of ammonia and amino acids were measured.

A. Meike Jonker, Freke W. J. Dijkhuis, Frans G. M. Kroese, Machiel J. Hardonk, Joris Grond – 1 April 1990 – Galactosamine hydrochloride induces liver disease in tats that morphologically resembles drug‐induced hepatitis in man. In this study we analyzed the character of the inflammatory reaction following the toxic damage resulting from the administration of galactosamine hydrochloride using a broad panel of mono clonal antibodies to lymphocyte subsets and macrophages. Fat‐storing cells were identified with a polyclonal anti‐desmin antibody.

Eithan Galun, Daniel Shouval, Ruth Adler, Michal Shahaar, Meir Wilchek, Esther Hurwitz, Michael Sela – 1 April 1990 – Conjugates between chemotherapeutic agents and antibodies, linked by a dextran bridge, were previously shown to be effective in suppression of hepatoma growth in vitro and in vivo. However, scaling up of production of such conjugates may lead to a high degree of variation in molar ratios of drug to antibody in different batches. In this study, an alternative link between drug and antibody was evaluated.

1 April 1990

Francesco Salerno, Salvatore Badalamenti, Pierluigi Incerti, H. A. Koomans, J. J. Beutler, J. Van Hattum – 1 April 1990

Ulrich Treichel, Thomas Poralla, Georg Hess, Michael Manns, Karl‐Hermann Meyer Zum Büschenfelde – 1 April 1990 – Autoantibodies to the human asialoglycoprotein receptor (anti‐h‐ASGPR) were studied with a solid‐phase ELISA in the sera of 421 patients with inflammatory liver diseases, 288 patients with various other disorders and 31 controls. Anti‐h‐ASGPR were found predominantly in autoimmune chronic active hepatitis (44 of 88, 50%) and were closely related to inflammatory activity.

Gregory T. Everson, Merrill Emmett, William R. Brown, Paul Redmond, David Thickman – 1 April 1990 – Hepatic cysts are a frequent manifestation of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, but little is known about their functional characteristics. The goals of our study were to define the composition of hepatic cyst fluid and to determine whether hepatic cysts secrete in response to intravenously administered secretin.

Joanna B. Ready, Kenneth F. Hossack, William G. Rector – 1 April 1990 – The pathogenesis of variceal hemorrhage is not well understood. Portal pressure and gastroesophageal collateral (azygous) blood flow are similar in patients with cirrhosis with or without a history of variceal bleeding. However, acute increases in these parameters in individual patients might predispose them to variceal rupture.

Guillermo Silva, Miquel Navasa, Jaime Bosch, Jaime Chesta, M. Pilar Pizcueta, Rosa Casamitjana, Francisca Rivera, Joan Rodes – 1 April 1990 – It has been suggested that glucagon contributes to the pathogenesis of portal hypertension by increasing portal blood flow. This study examined this issue by assessing the hemodynamic effects of a pharmacological dose of glucagon (1 mg, intravenously) in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension (n = 10) and in subjects without significant liver disease (controls = n = 5).

Hie‐Won L. Hann, Mark W. Stahlhut, Christine L. Hann – 1 April 1990 – To investigate the effects of iron supplementation on hepatoma cell growth, cells from a human hepatoma cell line, PLC/PRF/5, were grown in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 0, 10 and 20 μg/ml of FeSO4 and harvested weekly. At the end of 6 wk culture, cell mass measured 9.6, 14.7 and 13.2 gm, respectively. Amounts of ferritin from these cell masses were 0 (undetectable), 0.89 and 2.27 μg/gm of cells.