Comparison of thermally oxidized lipids and acetaminophen with concurrent consumption of ethanol as inducers of liver cirrhosis

Kinetics and mechanisms of hepatic acute phase response to subtotal partial hepatectomy and cultural impact on environmental hepatic end-stage liver injury in the homeless

Intoxication and liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)), aflatoxin B1, diabetes, and subtotal partial hepatectomy (PH(90)) in rats in which approximately 90% of the total hepatic tissue mass is surgically removed produces an acute-phase response (APR) whose initial stage prior to regression closely mimics the APRs associated with the life-threatening hepatic failure seen in the homeless. Rats treated by PH(90)were either healthy, CCl(4)-intoxicated, diabetic, or alflatoxin B1 (AFB1) intoxicated to the point of 75% liver insufficiency. It is well documented that high rates of mortality following PH(90)in aseptic rats could be minimized by supplementing drinking water with 20% glucose, organic components of L-15 medium and housing animals in cages maintained at 33-35;C. Aseptic rats showed a mild 20-30% decrease in APR proteins during the first 4-5 days following PH(90), while a maximal APR was noted 9-12 days post PH(90)and lasted for ~30 days when it returned to values close to those of healthy controls. This delay in hepatic APR of the remnant caudate lobe favoured replacement of lost basophilic clumps and ribosomes. The newly synthesized ribosomes of the nascent hepatocytes quantitatively maintained the APR signals of the injured caudate hepatocytes, and biosynthesized and released a typical spectrum of APR proteins. We suggest that massively injured liver has decoded an already stored and irreversible DNA-biochemical sequence of events in which priority is given to recovery of lost tissues by delaying an APR response to injury. In PH(90)of diabetic and CCl(4)-intoxicated rats, the hepatic dual functions of regeneration and APR processes associated with intoxication-initiated catabolic signals, created a heavy metabolic burden on the remnant caudate lobe leading to higher rates of mortality. APR of healthy rats to AFB1 parallels that of alpha-amanitin-induced intoxication. Similarly, within shorter time scale proportional to the severity of surgery, livers undergoing 75% partially hepatectomy (PH(75)) delayed both the onset and regression of APR. We are therefore led to believe that approaches other than liver transplantation should be considered as viable alternatives in the treatment of various acute and chronic liver diseases to avoid rejection and retransplantation. Scarcity of cadaveric liver has forced the medical community to investigate xenotransplantation with its unknown risks. Concomitantly, it is suggested that in view of the incalculable risks of indifference, the homeless must receive much improved medical care as we have found that two-dimensional immunoelectrophoretic assay of their serum is indicative of acute and chronic liver injury. The scientific and moral interrelationships of related matters are illuminated.

Chemical and epidemiological aspects of modified butter oil fractions

Butter lipids are an important traditional source of dietary energy intake in the form of fat. Butter lost a sizable portion of its market share due to controversies associated with its cholesterol content and high percentage of long-chain saturated fatty acids. Accordingly, the use of vegetable oils and their chemically manipulated counterparts such as those produced by partial hydrogenation or interestrification increased proportionally. However, beginning in 1940, researchers developed several procedures such as temperature-controlled crystallization, refractionation of crystallized butter oil solids, and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction to improve the acceptance of butter oil. Others proposed preparation of synthetic substitutes such as sucrose polyesters to reduce intestinal absorption of fatty acids, thus reducing caloric intake with concomitant reduction in serum cholesterol. The present review provides a summary of the efforts of several attempts to improve the acceptability of butter together with the anticipated epidemiological consequences of long-term consumption of altered butter oil to mammalian health.

Biogenesis of hepatic acute-phase response to trauma

The bioorganic pathway(s) of hepatic acute-phase response in rat to single and compounded traumata triggered either by chemical or physical injury has been re-evaluated for the purpose of advancing a better understanding of mechanisms of hepatic regeneration. These insights would be useful in cases of liver cirrhosis and end-stage liver diseases and may allow avenues of surgical management other than liver transplantation. Mechanisms of acute-phase response in rat to a single inflammatory stimulus, e.g. intoxication with phalloidin, alpha-amanitin, subcutaneous administration of carageenan, subcutaneous implantation of Yoshida sarcoma or i.p. administration of Zajdela ascites are discussed and compared with (a) acute-phase response to intoxication by various factors leading to the development of liver cirrhosis, and (b) acute-phase response of nascent hepatocytes where hepatic regenerative activities were induced by chemical intoxication or surgical partial hepatectomy. Interestingly, hepatic acute-phase response was not limited only to these injuries outlined above but also to psychological conditions.

Artificial liver support: the pipe dream of today should be the reality of the near future

The title of this article is taken from an interesting Letter to the Editor entitled 'Artificial liver support-Pipe dream or reality' by Cattral and Levy of the Toronto Hospital, Canada, published in the New England Journal of Medicine 1994, in which the authors persuasively propose possibilities of artificial liver support and suggest its advantages. We find that their suggestions agree with the core of our thoughts on this subject. The present article deals with the concept of implanting livers taken from humans, primates or non-primates (e.g. hog) into patients in parallel with their own metabolically fatigued or cirrhotic livers, with minimal surgical manipulation, as a prelude to total artificial liver support via a liver dialysis device. While the possibility exists that the host liver may recover function, a donor liver, whether implanted into the patient's abdomen or connected in vitro to the patient's circulatory system extracorporeally, may provide the host liver respite and a period for recovery and proliferation, if possible. Once recovery is under way, the donor liver may be removed and the patient will not experience the usual risks of rejection and the necessary side-effects of immunosuppression associated with conventional full hepatectomy and donor transplantation. The viability of a liver implantation model in rats is correlated in this article with hepatic acute phase response.