Elizabeth Knobler, Maureen B. Poh‐Fitzpatrick, Donna Kravetz, William R. Vincent, Ursula Muller‐Eberhard, Styliani H. Vicent – 1 December 1989 – Equilibrium constants for the binding of protoporphyrin to serum albumin and hemopexin and liver cytosolic fatty acid‐binding protein of the rat were determined fluorometrically. The experimental equilibrium constant [106M−1 (mean ± S. D.)] values were 8.4 ± 1.3, 10.0 ± 2.4 and 34.0 ± 3.0 for albumin, hemopexin and liver fatty acid‐binding protein, respectively.

Gilles Pomier‐Layrargues, J.‐François Giguère, Joël Lavoie, Bernard Willems, Roger F. Butterworth – 1 December 1989 – Ro 15–1788, a benzodiazepine antagonist, has been advocated as a new treatment for hepatic encephalopathy. This drug is extensively metabolized by the liver in normal subjects. In the present study, we examined Ro 15–1788 disposition in eight healthy controls (Group I), eight cirrhotic patients with moderately impaired liver function (Pugh score >10, Group II) and eight patients with severe liver dysfunction (Pugh score > 10, Group III).

Franklin M. Klion – 1 December 1989

John M. Amatruda, Arthur I. Salhanick – 1 December 1989 – Hepatic steatosis and steatonecrosis occur in non‐alcoholic individuals, usually in a setting of obesity, type II diabetes mellitus, and after jejunoileal bypass. We propose an hypothesis for the pathogenesis of these hepaic lesions based on an observation in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Ranjit Banerjee, Saul Karpen, Miriam Siekevitz, Gabriella Lengyel, Joachim Bauer, George Acs – 1 December 1989 – Tumor necrosis factor‐α is an inducer of acute‐phase protein synthesis in liver cells. The mechanism by which tumor necrosis factor‐α alters gene expression in these cells is largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that tumor necrosis factor‐α stimulates human immunodeficiency virus‐1 long terminal repeat‐promoted gene expression in the human hepatoblastoma HepG2 cell line and increased binding of trans‐activating factors to kappa B (kB) DNA sequences.

Neil A. Kurtzman – 1 November 1989

Samuel W. French, H. Tsukamoto, Esteban Mezey – 1 November 1989

Denis J. Morgan, Richard A. Smallwood – 1 November 1989 – Blood clearance of antipyrine, indocyanine green, and galactose were measured to evaluate the alterations of effective hepatic blood flow and hepatic intrinsic clearances in chronic liver diseases. Galactose blood clearance, which may be taken as effective hepatic blood flow, decreased by approximately 30% in patients with cirrhosis (12.49 ± 0.76 ml/min/kg; mean ± SE; n = 17) compared with normal subjects (18.17 ± 1.03 ml/min/kg; n = 5).

Jean C. Emond, Peter F. Whitington, J. Richard Thistlethwaite, Estella M. Alonso, Christoph E. Broelsch – 1 November 1989 – Reducing the size of a liver for use in a recipient smaller than the donor is one way to reduce mortality before orthotopic liver transplantation in children because of the scarcity of pediatric organ donors. In this report, we review the results of this approach over the past 2 years, during which we have used reduced‐size orthotopic liver transplantation routinely in small children.

Fang Xian‐Jun, Armand Keating, Jean de Villiers, Morris Sherman – 1 November 1989 – In preparation for studies using gene transfer, we have identified transcriptional control elements which are active in primary rat hepatocytes. We used plasmids which were constructed so that the promoter or enhancer of interest initiated transcription of the bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene.