James W. Kesterson, G. Richard Granneman, Joseph M. Machinist – 1 November 1984 – Valproic acid (VPA), its unsaturated metabolites and pent‐4‐enoate (4‐PA) were studied for potential hepatotoxicity in rats. 4‐PA, 4‐en‐VPA and 2,4‐dien‐VPA were potent inducers of microvesicular steatosis in young rats. Microvesicular steatosis induced by the 4‐en‐VPA was accompanied by ultrastructural changes characterized by myeloid bodies, lipid vacuoles and mitochondrial abnormalities. Myeloid bodies and lipid vacuoles were seen to a lesser extent in 2,4‐dien‐VPA and 4‐PA‐treated rats.

Joseph B. Bogardus – 1 September 1984 – Monooctanoin is used clinically for dissolution of common bile duct cholesterol gallstones. A number of factors influencing the dissolution rate of cholesterol monohydrate in this solvent were investigated. Water increased cholesterol dissolution rate in a manner inconsistent with previous solubility measurements. Dissolution rate increased approximately 50% in the presence of 10 to 15% water in monooctanoin.

1 September 1984

Natarajan Rajagopalan, Siegfried Lindenbaum – 1 September 1984 – The binding of Ca2+ to micelles of glycine and taurine bile acid conjugates was studied using a Ca2+−‐specific electrode. An investigation of the effect of buffer concentration, pH, added electrolyte and lecithin was also performed. The results indicate that the binding of Ca2+ to bile salt micelles is dependent on the number of hydroxyl groups on the steroid nucleus and on the nature of the head conjugating group, namely, glycine or taurine.

Donald M. Small, Donna J. Cabral, David P. Cistola, John S. Parks, James A. Hamilton – 1 September 1984 – The ionization behavior of carboxylic acids including aliphatic chain fatty acids and bile acids in solutions, micelles, membranes and proteins is of considerable biological interest. The 13C nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shift of carboxyl carbon of a variety of acids has been shown to be a linear function of the state of ionization of the carboxyl group.

Edward W. Moore – 1 September 1984 – Calcium is present in all pigment gallstones as a salt of one or more of the anions in bile which are most readily precipitable by calcium: (i) carbonate; (ii) bilirubinate; (iii) phosphate, and (iv) “palmitate”. We term these “calcium‐sensitive” anions.

1 September 1984

Ernest Seidman, Andrée M. Weber, Claude L. Morin, Roméo Ethier, Jacques B. Lamarche, Ara J. Guerguérian, Guy Geoffroy, Claude C. Roy – 1 September 1984 – A child with cryptogenic cirrhosis underwent a third session of elective sclerotherapy. Endoscopic therapy consisted of intravascular injection of ethanolamine oleate in varices newly developed at the midesophagus level. Irreversible paraplegia was documented within 8 hr postoperatively. Two years later she eventually died from gastrointestinal bleeding.

Bertrand Nalpas, Anne Vassault, Alain Le Guillou, Bruno Lesgourgues, Nicolas Ferry, Bernard Lacour, Pierre Berthelot – 1 September 1984 – Serum activity of the mitochondrial isoenzyme of aspartate aminotransferase (mAST) was measured with an immunological method in 74 subjects. Fourty‐six were chronic alcoholics with (30) or without (16) obvious alcoholic liver disease; 28 were nonalcoholic controls among whom 14 had acute or chronic viral hepatitis, the remaining 14 being healthy individuals.

Claes Söderlund, Lars Backman, Rolf Erwald, Lennart Forsgren, Olle Marions, Karl‐Ludvig Wiechel – 1 September 1984 – A prospective series of 26 patients with portal hypertension and recent bleeding from esophageal varices was investigated with percutaneous transhepatic selective portography (PTP). PTP was performed immediately prior to and, in 23 patients, just after the initial endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (ST) session to study the acute effects of ST on the mediastinal portal‐systemic collaterals.