Laurence M. Blendis, Michael J. Sole, Peter Campbell, Alan G. Lossing, Paul D. Greig, Bryce R. Taylor, Bernard Langer – 1 January 1987 – The elevated catecholamine levels in cirrhotic patients with ascites have been proposed to be due to sympathetic overactivity secondary either to reduced intravascular volume or to an underlying cardiovascular abnormality such as reduced pressor responsiveness. Furthermore, these elevated catecholamine levels have been proposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of salt and water retention.

Tzee Chung Wu, Myron J. Tong, Betau Hwang, Shou‐Dong Lee, Mu Mei Hu – 1 January 1987 – Twenty pediatric patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma in Taiwan were tested for HBsAg, and all were found to be positive. The youngest case was 8 months of age, five cases occurred between 9 and 10 years of age, and 14 cases occurred between 11 and 16 years of age. The serum α‐fetoprotein was elevated in all 20 primary hepatocellular carcinoma patients, and the average survival of these cases after diagnosis was 4.7 months.

Toshikazu Uchida, Koyu Suzuki, Mariko Esumi, Masayuki Arii, Masashi Oomura, Toshio Shikata – 1 January 1987 – A sequential study was performed to investigate the occurrence and localization of duck hepatitis B virus in the liver of domestic ducks utilizing the indirect immunoperoxidase method and electron microscopy. Seventeen ducklings were injected intravenously with duck hepatitis B virus‐positive serum within 24 hr after hatching and were subsequently sacrificed on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 27th and 44th day after injection.

Yohko K. Shimizu, Robert H. Purcell, John L. Gerin, Stephen M. Feinstone, Yasushi Ono, Toshio Shikata – 1 November 1986 – To further investigate the specificity of the monoclonal antibodies (48‐1 and S‐1) associated with non‐A, non‐B hepatitis, extensive immunofluorescence studies were performed on liver biopsy specimens from chimpanzees with experimental hepatitis A, B, non‐A, non‐B or δ, or from normal chimpanzees.

Antonina Smedile, Mario Rizzetto, Katherine Denniston, Ferruccio Bonino, Frances Wells, Giorgio Verme, Fausto Consolo, Bill Hoyer, Robert H. Purcell, John L. Gerin – 1 November 1986 – Hepatitis D virus is a defective human pathogen that requires hepatitis B virus for its replication. A hybridization‐based assay for the 1.75 kb RNA genome of hepatitis D virus was developed using as probe a radiolabeled transcript of a cloned cDNA fragment (pKD3 hepatitis D virus DNA).

Bernardo Buitrago, Hans Popper, Stephen C. Hadler, Swan N. Thung, Michael A. Gerber, Robert H. Purcell, James E. Maynard – 1 November 1986 – Stimulated by observations in an outbreak of hepatitis δ‐virus infection among Yucpa Indians in Venezuela, in which unusual histologic features were found, we studied 100 cases of fatal hepatitis from Colombia, South America, which had been obtained by autopsy or viscerotomy. These cases were considered to be “Santa Marta hepatitis,” or “hepatitis of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta,” which has been observed in this region for more than 40 years.

G. S. Tint – 1 November 1986 – A two‐year‐old boy presented with severe failure to thrive, developmental delay, anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, central cataracts, and dysmorphic features. Quantitative analyses of urinary organic acids revealed massive excretion of mevalonic acid, a metabolic precursor of cholesterol and nonsterol isoprenes: 46,000 to 56,200 mmol per mole of creatinine, as compared with 0.2 to 0.3 mmol per mole in normal children. The mevalonic acid concentration in plasma was also greatly increased at 440 μmol per liter (normal, <0.05).

Deane F. Mosher – 1 November 1986

Antonio Francavilla, Alfredo Dileo, Lorenzo Polimeno, Judith Gavaler, Riccardo Pellicci, Satoro Todo, Igal Kam, John Prelich, Leonard Makowka, Thomas E. Starzl – 1 November 1986 – Galactosamine induces a dose‐dependent hepatic injury in rats and many other animals. The toxicity of D‐galactosamine appears to be a consequence of the loss of hepatic UTP. It has previously been reported that regenerating liver cytosol is able to prevent, at least in part, the lethal effect of this substance by stimulating hepatic regeneration.

Prem V. Nair, Myron J. Tong, Douglas Stevenson, Deborah Roskamp, Cissy Boone – 1 November 1986 – We investigated the efficacy of a short course of prednisone therapy in 20 patients with histologic evidence of chronic active hepatitis B. Sixteen of 20 prednisone‐treated patients who were initially serum hepatitis B virus DNA‐positive had a transient elevation of their serum ALT activity on withdrawal of prednisone. Subsequently, 14 of these 16 patients (87.5%) became persistently negative for serum hepatitis B virus DNA, and 10 also lost their HBeAg.