Anne Marie Jezequel, Patrizia Bonazzi, Giuseppe Novelli, Cinzia Venturini, Francesco Orlandi – 1 November 1984 – Valproic acid (VPA) is a simple fatty acid largely used as anticonvulsivant agent. Side effects are uncommon, but cases of fatal hepatic failure have been reported. To elucidate the mechanism of VPA‐induced hepatotoxicity, the functional and structural changes associated with administration of sodium valproate (NaVPA) to rats (200 or 600 mg per kg, i.p.) were analyzed.

Kenji Fujiwara, Yasuhiko Ohta, Itsuro Ogata, Yuzuru Sato, Yuji Oka, Shigeki Hayashi, Katsuyoshi Takatsuki, Hiroshi Oka – 1 November 1984 – The effect of 4–(3,7,ll,15‐tetramethyl‐6,10,14‐hexadecatrienoyl)morpholine (E‐0712), a new synthetic compound, on liver injury induced by two hepatotoxins in rats was studied. Oral doses of E‐0712 four times at 0, 6, 12 and 18 hr significantly attenuated elevated SGPT values and prolonged prothrombin time (PT) at 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 hr in rats with a single s.c. dose of D‐galactosamine in which SGPT values and PT reached the peak within 48 hr.

Charles S. Davidson – 1 November 1984

Charles S. Davidson – 1 November 1984

Albert L. Jones, Gary T. Hradek, Douglas L. Schmucker, Brian J. Underdown – 1 November 1984 – In the rat, plasma IgA is rapidly endocytosed by hepatocytes and translocated to the bile via a receptor‐mediated vesicular transport system which appears to remain intact even during cholestasis. During the latter phenomenon, there is an accumulation of secretory IgA (sIgA) in plasma. These data suggest that biliary IgA can be regurgitated into the plasma compartment. The present study was designed to determine the location and mechanism(s) by which this might occur.

Barbara Forzani, Giovanni C. Actis, Giorgio Verme, Antonio Amoroso, Iolanda Borelli, Emilio S. Curtoni, Maria Grazia Rumi, Antonio Picciotto, Giovanni Marinucci, Maria Antonietta Freni, Mario Rizzetto – 1 November 1984 – The A, B, C and DR locus specificities of the human leukocyte antigens system (HLA) were determined in 45 delta‐positive and 44 delta‐negative Italian patients, all with HBsAg‐positive chronic active liver disease; controls were 526 healthy Italian blood donors matched for age, sex and geographical origin. HLA‐A, B, C gene frequencies were not significantly changed.

Daniel S. Camara – 1 November 1984

Helmut K. Seitz, Siegrid Veith, Peter Czygan, Johann Bösche, Bernd Simon, Roland Gugler, Burkhard Kommerell – 1 November 1984 – The influence of a 7‐day medication of either cimetidine (1,000 mg per day) or ranitidine (300 mg per day) on serum ethanol concentrations after a single oral dose of ethanol (0.8 gm per kg body weight) was investigated in a randomized placebo‐controlled study in eight male volunteers. Compared with the placebo, cimetidine but not ranitidine produced a significant increase in both the peak serum ethanol concentration (85.9 ± 3.5 vs.

Hideki Ohkubo, Kunio Okuda – 1 November 1984 – The nicotinic acid test was performed in 5 patients with Dubin‐Johnson syndrome, 5 with Rotor syndrome and 13 with Gilbert's syndrome. The increment in serum bilirubin concentration and bilirubin retention 5 hr later differed; the proportion of conjugated bilirubin in the increment of total bilirubin in Dubin‐Johnson and Rotor syndromes was greater than in Gilbert's syndrome. These observations suggest that the nicotinic acid test reflects, in part, impaired biliary excretion of conjugated bilirubin.

Jaime Bosch, Ricardo Masti, David Kravetz, Jordi Bruix, Joan Gaya, Joaquin Rigau, Joan Rodes – 1 November 1984 – The effects of propranolol on blood flow through gastroesophageal collaterals and on systemic and hepatic hemodynamies were investigated in 23 cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension. Gastroesophageal collateral blood flow was evaluated by the measurement of azygos venous blood flow by continuous thermal dilution.