Maria Buti, Rafael Esteban, Michael Roggendorf, Juan Fernandez, Rosendo Jardi, Rudolf Rashofer, Helena Allende, Juan Genesca, Juan Ignacio Esteban, Jaime Guardia – 1 September 1988 – To evaluate the profile of hepatitis D virus replication and the corresponding immunoresponse after acute hepatitis D virus infection, sera from 50 patients with acute hepatitis D (36 with acute hepatitis B virus‐hepatitis D virus coinfection and 14 HBsAg carriers with hepatitis D virus superinfection) were investigated for the presence of hepatitis D virus RNA and other serological hepatitis D virus markers.

1 September 1988

Marc I. Lorber – 1 September 1988

Kunio Okuda – 1 September 1988 – A new mutant causing hereditary hepatitis associated with severe jaundice has been discovered in the LEC strain of rats. Hepatitis appears suddenly in adult rats three to four months after birth. The clinical signs of hepatitis are characterized by severe jaundice, subcutaneous bleeding, oliguria, and loss of body weight. The affected rats showed a high lethality and histological changes of the liver with focal necrosis of enlarged hepatocytes without inflammatory cell response.

Neville L. Sandford, Ronald E. Saul – 1 September 1988 – Thirty‐six patients with advanced chronic liver disease of predominantly alcoholic etiology and with a documented history or current physical evidence of hepatic encephalopathy were studied and compared to 30 healthy controls. Assessment was made of their mental state, number connection test, venous blood ammonia, electroencephalography and visual evoked potentials with both pattern reversal and flash stimuli.

Roger F. Butterworth, Joël Lavoie, Jean‐François Giguère, Gilles Pomier‐Layrargues – 1 September 1988 – The integrity of GABA‐A receptors and of central benzodiazepine receptors was evaluated in membrane preparations from prefrontal cortex and caudate nuclei obtained at autopsy from nine cirrhotic patients who died in hepatic coma and an equal number of age‐matched control subjects. Histopathological studies revealed Alzheimer Type II astrocytosis in all cases in the cirrhotic group; controls were free from neurological, psychiatric or hepatic diseases.

Douglas M. Heuman, Z. Reno Vlahcevic, Marsha L. Bailey, Phillip B. Hylemon – 1 July 1988 – Bile acid synthesis is believed to be regulated by bile salts returning to the liver via the portal vein and suppressing cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase, the rate‐limiting enzyme in the bile acid biosynthesis pathway. In order to characterize the relative effectiveness of bile salts in regulating bile acid synthesis, seven different bile acids were administered (1% w/w in chow) to rats over a 14‐day period.

Ann A. Jerkins, Robert D. Steele – 1 July 1988 – In a series of experiments, rats were subjected to end‐to‐side portacaval shunts using either suture or nonsuture surgical procedures. Rats were maintained on cereal‐based or purified diets in pellet form. All rats recovered preoperative body weights within the experimental periods; however, recovery of preoperative body weight was influenced by surgical technique and diet composition.

Miquel Navasa, Jaime Bosch, Jürg Reichen, Conxita Bru, Ricardo Mastai, Thomas Zysset, Guillermo Silva, Jaime Chesta, Joan Rodés – 1 July 1988 – The effects of verapamil on hepatic and systemic hemodynamics and on liver function were investigated in 10 patients with portal hypertension due to advanced micronodular cirrhosis to verify whether, as it has been suggested, this calcium channel blocker may improve liver function and reduce portal pressure in these patients.

Yasushi Shiratori, Tateo Kawase, Shuichiro Shiina, Ken'Ichi Okano, Tsuneaki Sugimoto, Hitoshi Teraoka, Sunao Matano, Kazunori Matsumoto, Kazuo Kamii – 1 July 1988 – In an attempt to elucidate the role of hepatic macrophages in liver injury, we investigated galactosamine‐treated rats (500 mg per kg body weight). The rats received an i.v. injection of latex particles (2 × 109 particles per animal) prior to (latex‐galactosamine) or 12 to 16 hr subsequent to the galactosamine treatment (galactosamine‐latex).