Shunichi Koga, Yasuji Miyata, Hiroshi Ibayashi – 1 March 1985 – To elucidate abnormalities in lipid metabolism in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), plasma lipoproteins and apoproteins were analyzed in 10 such patients. Lipoprotein X was present in sera from five of the patients. Another abnormal lipoprotein of slow α‐mobility on agarose gel electrophoresis was observed in sera of eight of the patients. The slow α‐lipoprotein was distributed in the range of densities between low density and high density lipoproteins and was rich in apoprotein E.

Anders Nyberg, Lars Lööf, Roger Hällgren – 1 March 1985 – Serum β2‐microglobulin (β2μ) was determined in 44 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and in 63 patients with other liver disorders. β2μ levels were elevated in PBC when compared with chronic persistent hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and noncirrhotic alcohol liver disease, but not in comparison with chronic active hepatitis and alcoholic liver cirrhosis. With the exception of chronic persistent hepatitis, all liver disorders had significantly increased serum concentrations of β2μ when compared with controls.

Armelle Foliot, Denise Glaise, Serge Erlinger, Christiane Guguen‐Guillouzo – 1 March 1985 – Taurocholate (TC) uptake by adult rat hepatocytes co‐cultured with other rat liver epithelial cells (RLEC) was studied comparatively to hepatocytes in primary culture. Cells were cultured on Petri dishes for desired times prior to measuring their ability to transport TC. TC uptake was linear for 150 sec in both culture conditions.

Neville R. Pimstone – 1 March 1985

Gabriel Garcia, George Scullard, Coleman Smith, Jed Weissberg, Steven Alexander, William S. Robinson, Peter Gregory, Thomas C. Merigan – 1 March 1985

Hidekazu Tsukamoto, Samuel W. French, Nancy Benson, George Delgado, G. Ananda Rao, Edward C. Larkin, Corey Largman – 1 March 1985 – Blood alcohol levels (BAL) were maintained at high levels (overall mean ± S.D. achieved in 14 alcoholic rats was 216.0 ± 120.1 mg%) in male Wistar rats for 15 to 85 days by continuous intragastric infusion of ethanol and nutritionally defined low fat liquid diet. The ethanol intake was progressively increased from 32% of total calories up to 41.4% in order to maintain high BAL. Pair‐fed animals received isocaloric glucose solution and the liquid diet.

Alain Poitrine, Suzanne Chousterman, Michel Chousterman, Sylvie Naveau, Ming Nguy Thang, Jean‐Claude Chaput – 1 March 1985 – The in vivo activation state of the interferon system was biochemically evaluated in patients with HBsAg‐positive liver disease by assaying the interferon‐induced enzyme, 2′5′‐oligoadenylate synthetase, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. All patients with chronic active hepatitis had normal levels of enzyme activity.

Donald C. Nelson, George R. Avant, K. Vincent Speeg, Anastacio M. Hoyumpa, Steven Schenker – 1 March 1985 – Both cimetidine therapy and cirrhosis individually interfere with normal elimination of various drugs. Cimetidine is often prescribed in patients with cirrhosis but there is incomplete data on its effect on drug elimination in cirrhotics. The purpose of this study was to address this issue. Eight stable cirrhotics were studied prior to and following 7 days of cimetidine administration, (300 mg orally q.i.d.).

William M. Lee, David L. Emerson, Phillip A. M. Werner, Philippe Arnaud, Pascal Goldschmidt‐Clermont, Robert M. Galbraith – 1 March 1985 – Monomeric G‐actin has recently been shown to form high‐affinity complexes with group‐specific component protein (Gc), and this process might be expected to occur in vivo when hepatocyte necrosis with release of actin takes place. We therefore measured serum Gc levels and searched for evidence of actin‐containing complexes of Gc in 147 sera from 21 normal subjects and 126 patients with acute and chronic liver diseases.

Andres T. Blei, Steve Friedman, Jeanne Gottstein, Gary Robertson, Ho‐Leung Fung – 1 March 1985 – Addition of nitroglycerin (NTG) improves the hemodynamic response to vasopressin and may thus be useful in the treatment of gastrointestinal hemorrhage. We studied in the rat the influence of vasopressin on the disposition of a constant intravenous infusion of NTG and the cutaneous absorption of NTG ointment. The effect of NTG on the pharmacokinetics of vasopressin was also defermined. Animals were divided into four groups: control, NTG, vasopressin and vasopressin + NTG.