Milog Sovak – 1 July 1987 – The “congestion index” is used to mean the ratio between the cross‐sectional area (cm2) and the blood flow velocity (cm/sec) of the portal vein, as determined by a duplex Doppler system. The indices as determined in normal subjects and patients with liver disease were as follows: normal subjects (n = 85), 0.070 ± 0.029 cm × sec; acute hepatitis (n = 11), 0.071 ± 0.014 cm × sec; chronic active hepatitis (n = 42), 0.119 ± 0.084 cm × sec; cirrhosis (n = 72), 0.171 ± 0.075 cm × sec; and idiopathic portal hypertension (n = 11), 0.180 ± 0.107 cm × sec.

Hans Popper, David A. Shafritz, Jay H. Hoofnagle – 1 July 1987

Massimo Colombo, Silvia Oldani, Maria F. Donato, Mauro Borzio, Raffaele Santese, Luigi Roffi, Paolo Viganó, Antonietta Cargnel – 1 July 1987 – We studied the risk of posttransfusion hepatitis in recipients of blood collected from volunteer donors who tested negative for HBsAg and had serum ALT levels less than 1.5 times the upper limit of the normal range. Between October, 1983 and September, 1984, 676 consecutive patients who needed blood or plasma transfusions during or after elective surgery, who had no history of liver disease and had never received blood previously, were studied.

Stephan Schäfer, Ottwin Zerbe, Axel M. Gressner – 1 July 1987 – Fat‐storing cells (perisinusoidal stellate cells) were isolated by enzymatic digestion of rat liver and purified by a single‐step Nycodenz ® gradient to yield 11.4·106 cells per liver, with a purity of 74% and a viability of 76%. Monolayer cultures of fat‐storing cells incorporated both [35S]sulfate and [3H]glucosamine into glycosaminoglycans; the rate of incorporation increased with culture time (3‐fold between the third and eighth days in culture). About 80% of newly formed glycosaminoglycans were secreted into the medium.

Jill E. Maddison, Peter R. Dodd, Murray Morrison, Graham A. R. Johnston, Geoffrey C. Farrell – 1 July 1987 – Plasma γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)‐like activity, plasma GABA and the brain GABA‐benzodiazepine receptor complex were studied in rats with chronic hepatic encephalopathy. Portal vein ligation (after prior subcutaneous transposition of the spleen) results in complete portal bypass of splanchnic blood. In addition, significant hepatocellular damage was superimposed on this model of portosystemic shunting by ligation of the common bile duct.

I. M. Murray‐Lyon – 1 July 1987 – The accidental finding of raised levels of serum aminotransferase levels may lead to extensive investigations of the liver in apparently healthy people. To identify diagnostic groups and their need for investigations, we have evaluated the results of all investigative procedures carried out in 149 asymptomatic patients with persistently raised serum levels of aminotransferases. Fatty liver was found in 64%. These patients often had a high body weight. A high alcohol intake and diabetes mellitus were also noted.

Ronald L. Koretz, Harold O. Conn – 1 July 1987 – The effect of peritoneovenous shunting on body composition has been studied in 7 cirrhotic patients undergoing a successful shunt and 3 patients in whom the shunt was unsuccessful. In the 7 patients with functioning shunts, their weight had decreased by a mean of 9 kg (p < 0.001) by 6 wk after initial diuresis, natriuresis, and kaliuresis, and was associated with a decrease in total body potassium (TBK) but not total body nitrogen (TBN).

Allan W. Wolkoff – 1 July 1987

Wolfgang Hagmann, Anne‐Marie Steffan, André Kirn, Dietrich Keppler – 1 July 1987 – The role of leukotrienes was investigated in frog virus 3‐induced hepatitis in rats. Frog virus 3 elicited an enhanced generation of cysteinyl leukotrienes in vivo as monitored by measurement of N‐acetyl‐leukotriene E4 as the major endogenous metabolite of cysteinyl leukotrienes secreted into rat bile. N‐Acetyl‐leukotriene E4 concentrations were elevated for more than 4 hr after frog virus 3 injection.

Peter Van Der Sluijs, Bart Postema, Dirk K. F. Meijer – 1 July 1987 – Two types of models have recently been proposed to describe hepatic uptake kinetics of protein bound drugs: a model in which dissociation from plasma protein is rate limiting the process, and a model in which an interaction between protein and hepatocyte surface is thought to promote dissociation and uptake of the drug. This study was designed to investigate several aspects of both models, using lactosylated albumin as a binding protein that can interact with the Ashwell receptor abundantly present on the hepatocyte.