Simvastatin, a competitive inhibitor of HMG‐CoA reductase, lowers cholesterol saturation index of gallbladder bile

William C. Duane, Donald B. Hunninghake, Martin L. Freeman, Pete A. Pooler, Linda A. Schlasner, Roger L. Gebhard – 1 September 1988 – We tested the possibility that simvastatin, a competitive inhibitor of HMG‐CoA reductase related to mevinolin, might alter cholesterol saturation of gallbladder bile. Ten patients with Type IIa or IIb hypercholesterolemia underwent bile sampling before, and again after, treatment with 20 or 40 mg per day simvastatin for 7 to 13 weeks. Mean cholesterol saturation index of gallbladder bile fell from 1.01 to 0.77 during simvastatin treatment (p < 0.01).

Antibodies to translation products of the pre‐S1 and pre‐S2 regions of the envelope gene of hepatitis B virus in fulminant hepatitis B

Iku Ise, Fumio Tsuda, Shinobu Aihara, Atsuhiko Machida, Emiko Takai, Hideaki Miyamoto, Yoshihiro Akahane, Yuzo Miyakawa, Makoto Mayumi – 1 September 1988 – Sera from 11 patients with fulminant hepatitis B were tested for antibodies to translation products of the pre‐S1 and pre‐S2 regions of hepatitis B virus of IgM, IgA and IgG classes, as well as of IgA1, IgA2 and SIgA, with solid‐phase enzyme immunoassays using native viral polypeptides.

Activation of murine kupffer cell tumoricidal activity by liposomes containing lipophilic muramyl dipeptide

Nigel C. Phillips, John Rioux, Ming‐Sound Tsao – 1 September 1988 – The ability of liposomes containing a lipophilic muramyl dipeptide, N‐acetylmuramyl‐L‐alanyl‐D‐isoglutamine‐glycerol dipalmitate, to induce Kupffer cell tumoricidal activity has been investigated. Liposomal N‐acetylmuramyl‐L‐alanyl‐D‐isoglutamine‐glycerol dipalmitate was 16‐fold more potent than liposomal N‐acetylmuramyl‐L‐alanyl‐D‐isoglutamine and 2,400‐fold more potent than N‐acetylmuramyl‐L‐alanyl‐D‐isoglutamine in inducing Kupffer cell tumoricidal activity in vitro. A single i.v.

Transplantation of microcarrier‐attached hepatocytes into 90% partially hepatectomized rats

Achilles A. Demetriou, Andrew Reisner, Jay Sanchez, Stanley M. Levenson, Albert D. Moscioni, J. Roy Chowdhury – 1 September 1988 – We previously reported a method of intraperitoneal transplantation of liver cells attached to collagen‐coated microcarriers, which resulted in prolonged survival and function of the transplanted cells. In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of liver cell transplantation in providing metabolic support during acute liver insufficiency induced by 90% partial hepatectomy in rats.

Comparison of the hemodynamic responses to ketanserin and prazosin in portal hypertensive rats

Susan A. Cummings, Alberto J. Kaumann, Roberto J. Groszmann – 1 September 1988 – Ketanserin, a serotonin antagonist, is effective in lowering portal pressure in a rat model of portal hypertension. As ketanserin has α1‐adrenoceptor‐blocking properties in addition to its serotonin‐blocking effects, we sought to define further the mechanism of ketanserin's portal pressure‐lowering effect.

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