Jean‐Pierre Villeneuve, Claire Infante‐Rivard, Michel Ampelas, Gilles Pomier‐Layrargues, P.‐Michel Huet, Denis Marleau – 1 September 1986 – The aminopyrine breath test has been proposed as a quantitative test of hepatic function, but its long‐term prognostic value in patients with cirrhosis has not been determined. The aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of the aminopyrine breath test in assessing prognosis and to compare it with traditional methods of evaluating liver function.

Anne‐Marie Steffan, Jean‐Louis Gendrault, Robert S. McCuskey, Patricia A. McCuskey, André Kirn – 1 September 1986 – Impairment of the phagocytic capacities of Kupffer cells, as is found in Frog Virus 3 hepatitis of mice, allows the endothelial liver cells to take up intravenously inoculated latex particles of 1.0 μm diameter. In vitro experiments with cultivated endothelial cells isolated by collagenase perfusion of the liver and purified by centrifugal elutriation demonstrate that uptake occurs via a typical mechanism of phagocytosis involving pseudopodia.

1 July 1986

R. Esteban, M. Buti, M. Vallés, H. Allende, J. Guardia, Gabriel Garcia, William S. Robinson, Peter B. Gregory, Thomas C. Merigan – 1 July 1986

Kevin D. Mullen, Scott C. Denne, Arthur J. McCullough, Samuel M. Savin, Deborah Bruno, Anthony S. Tavill, Satish C. Kalhan – 1 July 1986 – Alterations in protein and amino acid metabolism have been postulated to explain the frequent observations of muscle wasting and decreased plasma branched‐chain amino acid concentrations in cirrhosis.

Brian K. Singletary, David H. van Thiel, Patricia K. Eagon – 1 July 1986 – Gallbladder disease is more prevalent in women than men. Estrogen therapy has been associated with an increased incidence of gallbladder disease in both sexes. Further, increased progesterone levels have been implicated in impairment of gallbladder motility in pregnancy. Because sex hormones often exert their action through specific receptors, we investigated whether human gallbladder contains receptors for estrogen and progesterone.

Sohrab Mobarhan, Thomas J. Layden, Howard Friedman, Annette Kunigk, Philip Donahue – 1 July 1986 – This study was designed to determine whether chronic moderate ethanol ingestion alters the levels of vitamin A of liver and esophageal epithelium and if this is dependent on zinc nutriture. Forty male Sprague‐Dawley 4‐week‐old rats were divided into five groups: zinc‐deficient (0.9 ppm), ethanol‐fed; zinc‐deficient; zinc‐adequate (25 ppm); zinc‐adequate (25 ppm), ethanol‐fed; and zinc‐supplemented (50 ppm), ethanol‐fed.

Bertrand Nalpas, Anne Vassault, Serge Charpin, Bernard Lacour, Pierre Berthelot – 1 July 1986 – Serum mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase activity was measured using an immunochemical method in 251 subjects, of whom 140 were chronic alcoholics. The alcoholic patients included 37 with normal liver routine tests (Group I), 61 with noncirrhotic alcoholic liver disease (Group II) and 42 with cirrhosis (Group III), of whom 21 had been abstainers for at least 2 months.

Peter F. Malet, Catherine L. Locke, Bruce W. Trotman, Roger D. Soloway – 1 July 1986 – The purpose of this study was to examine the role of calcium ions in gallbladder glycoprotein secretion in cultured guinea pig gallbladder explants. The calcium ionophore A23187 showed a threshold of 2 μg per ml medium for stimulation of secretion of [3H]glucosamine‐labeled glycoproteins over a 30 min incubation period. The ionophore at 3 and 5 μg per ml medium resulted in a 3‐ to 4‐fold increase in secretion of [3H]glucosamine‐labeled glycoproteins.

Tadashi Nishimura, Yukuo Yoshida, Fusao Watanabe, Masato Koseki, Toshiro Nishida, Kunio Tagawa, Yasunaru Kawashima – 1 July 1986 – To assess the severity of ischemic liver injury, we examined release of mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.1) and its cytoplasmic isozyme from the ischemic rat liver into the circulation.