Richard E. Sampliner, Albert J. Czaja, J. Eileen Hay, Jorge Rakela – 1 October 1989

Rachel Morecki, Joy Glaser – 1 October 1989 – Infection with reovirus 3 (Reo‐3) has been suggested as the cause of extrahepatic biliary atresia and idiopathic neonatal hepatitis but confirmation has been lacking. Therefore we have searched for a specific anti‐Reo‐3 antibody response in the sera of patients with biliary atresia or neonatal hepatitis and for Reo‐3 antigens in their hepatobiliary tissues.

David J. Mutimer, Shelley P. M. Fussey, Stephen J. Yeaman, Peter J. Kelly, Oliver F. W. James, Margaret F. Bassendine – 1 October 1989 – We have previously identified four of the M2 antigens in primary biliary cirrhosis as the E2 components (dihydrolipoamide acyltransferases) of pyruvate dehy‐drogenase complex, branched‐chain 2‐oxo acid dehy‐drogenase complex and 2‐oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex and the protein X component of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (approximate molecular masses: 74, 50, 50 and 52 kD, respectively).

Charles S. Lieber, Leonore M. Decarli, Michael F. Sorrell – 1 October 1989 – Techniques are reviewed for the experimental feeding of alcohol, including a liquid diet procedure invented 25 years ago. This technique results in much higher ethanol intake than with other approaches. As a consequence, various complications observed in alcoholics can be reproduced in animal models. These include fatty liver, hyperlipemia, various metabolic and endocrine disorders, tolerance to ethanol and other drugs, physical dependence and withdrawal and, in the baboon, liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Russell H. Wiesner, Patricia M. Grambsch, E. Rolland Dickson, Jurgen Ludwig, Robert L. Maccarty, Ellen B. Hunter, Thomas R. Fleming, Lloyd D. Fisher, Sandra J. Beaver, Nicholas F. Larusso – 1 October 1989 – The natural history of primary sclerosing cholangitis was assessed in 174 patients; 37 were asymptomatic and 137 had symptoms related to underlying liver disease. At the time of diagnosis, the mean age was 39.9 years, 66% of the primary sclerosing cholangitis patients were male and 71% had associated inflammatory bowel disease, most commonly chronic ulcerative colitis.

Helmut Denk, Kurt Zatloukal, Karl‐Heinz Preisegger – 1 October 1989 – Polyclonal antibodies were raised which have a high affinity for conjugated ubiquitin. Immuno‐cytochemistry was performed on paraffin sections of tissues showing well‐characterized inclusion bodies. Ubiquitin was found as a component of the intermediate filament inclusion bodies characteristic of several major diseases including Lewy bodies of Parkinson's disease, Pick bodies of Pick's disease, Mallory bodies of alcoholic liver disease, cytoplasmic bodies of a specific myopathy, and Rosenthal fibres within astrocytes.

1 October 1989

Dominique Valla, Jean‐François Flejou, Didier Lebrec, Jacques Bernuau, Bernard Rueff, Jean‐Louis Salzmann, Jean‐Pierre Benhamou – 1 October 1989 – We attempted to ascertain the mechanism of portal hypertension and ascites complicating acute hepatitis in 66 patients who underwent transvenous liver biopsy and measurement of hepatic venous pressure gradient.

Dieter Jüngst – 1 October 1989 – Gallbladder biles and stones were obtained at 116 cholecystectomies for symptomatic gallstone disease. All 33 patients younger than 50 years had cholesterol stones, whereas 40% of the older patients had pigment stones. We compared the reliability of three different bile tests for the differentiation between cholesterol and pigment stone patients.

Yves Ozier, Alain Braillon, Christophe Gaudin, Dominique Roulot, Antoine Hadengue, Didier Lebrec – 1 October 1989 – We investigated the effect of liver denervation on cardiovascular homeostasis. Three days after surgical denervation of the liver, hemodynamic studies (radioactive microsphere method) were conducted in conscious rats. The efficacity of the liver denervation procedure was confirmed by a significant decrease in norepinephrine content in various lobes of the liver. Liver denervation did not affect either systemic or splanchnic resting hemodynamics.