Jeffrey Rank, I. Dodd Wilson – 1 January 1983 – Polymeric IgA is rapidly transported from blood to bile by the rat liver. The effect of varying degrees of biliary obstruction on this transport process was studied. IgA concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay. Serum IgA concentrations increased progressively, and IgA output in bile declined with increasing bile duct obstruction. The decline in bile IgA output was explained by both diminished bile flow and decreased concentrations of IgA in bile. Very little polymeric IgA was present in normal rat serum.

Floris M. J. Zuyderhoudt, Jan W. Sindram, Joannes J. M. Marx, George G. A. Jorning, Jacobus Van Gool – 1 January 1983 – Depot iron, ferritin iron, and ferritin protein were measured in 34 liver needle biopsy specimens obtained from patients with primary and secondary iron‐loading diseases.

Kurt H. Chau, Martha P. Hargie, Richard H. Decker, Isa K. Mushahwarand, Lacy R. Overby – 1 January 1983 – time sequence, relative reactivity, and persistence of anti‐HBc IgM were assessed in patients with HBsAg‐positive viral hepatitis. A solid‐phase immunoassay was developed using the IgM capture procedure with anti‐m̈ated polystyrene beads. HBcAg was purified from serum Dane particles and used as a probe with 125I‐labeled anti‐HBc IgG. This immunoassay exhibited a pronounced prozoning phenomenon, and relative titers of sera differed widely depending upon the dilution of serum tested.

Norman D. Grace – 1 January 1983

Brian R. D. Macdougall, Roger Williams – 1 January 1983 – In a prospective randomized double‐blind controlled trial, 51 patients, 16 with cirrhosis and 35 with extrahepatic portal hypertension all of whom presented with variceal bleeding, were given either long‐term cimetidine in a dosage of 1.6 gm daily (24 patients) or placebo tablets (27 patients). Thirty‐eight patients completed 2 years of treatment. For 16 patients with cirrhosis, there was no significant difference in the frequency of rebleeding between the cimetidine (62.5%) and placebo (75.0%) groups.

Esteban Mezey, James J. Potter, Samuel W. French, Tsunenobu Tamura, Charles H. Halsted – 1 January 1983 – The effect of chronic ethanol feeding was determined on parameters of hepatic collagen metabolism in the monkey. Four monkeys of the species Macaca radiata received a nutritionally adequate diet containing 50% of the calories as ethanol, while four others were pair‐fed a diet in which ethanol was isocalorically substituted by carbohydrate. Liver biopsies were obtained at 3, 12, and 24 months, and the animals were killed between 40 and 48 months after initiation of the diets.

James L. Boyer, Rose M. Allen, Oi Cheng Ng – 1 January 1983 – Cytochemical studies suggest that Na+, K+‐ATPase is localized to sinusoidal and lateral portions of the hepatocyte plasma membrane whereas Mg++‐ATPase and alkaline phosphatase are luminal or canalicular membrane markers. To validate further these cytochemical findings, we have isolated from the nuclear pellet of rat liver homogenates a liver plasma membrane (LPM) fraction enriched in all three enzyme markers, as previously described (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1975; 401:59–52).

Urs A. Boelsterli, Gopa Rakhit, Tibor Balazs – 1 January 1983 – Structural and functional changes in the surface membranes of hepatocytes play a pivotal role in the induction and reversion of some forms of drug‐induced cholestasis. To elucidate the mechanism by which S‐adenosyl‐L‐methionine (SAMe) leads to a partial reversion of bile flow impairment caused by ethinyl estradiol (EE), female Sprague‐Dawley rats were given oral doses of EE (5 mg per kg per day, for 3 days) with and without simultaneous administration of SAMe (25 mg per kg, 3 times per day, for 3 days).

Fernando Alvarez, Pierre Landrieu, Paul Laget, Frédérique Lemonnier, Michel Odièvre, Daniel Alagille – 1 January 1983 – Thirteen children, aged 10 months to 20 years, presenting with chronic cholestasis from the first month of life and with low serum levels of vitamins A and/or E, have been investigated for neurological and ophthalmological symptoms. Clinical findings consisted of 4 types: peripheral neuropathy; cerebellar dysfunction; abnormalities of eye movement, and retinal degenerative changes.

Robert Barouki, Marie‐Noële Chobert, Joëlle Finidori, Martine Aggerbeck, Bertrand Nalpas, Jacques Hanoune – 1 January 1983 – The clone C2 derived from a rat hepatoma cell line was used to investigate the mechanism of the induction of γ‐glutamyltransferase by ethanol. γ‐glutamyltransferase activity was detected in the C2 cell (1.4 mU per mg protein), and its kinetic properties were similar to normal rat liver γ‐glutamyltransferase.