Effects of bile acids on the humoral immune response: a mechanistic approach.

Whereas bile acids in excess depress the cell-mediated immune response, their effects on the humoral response have been little investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of bile acids on immunoglobulin production. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated for 5 days by Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I (SAC-I).

Apolipoprotein B48 glycosylation in abetalipoproteinemia and Anderson's disease.

Background & Aims: Abetalipoproteinemia and Anderson's disease are hereditary lipid malabsorption syndromes. In abetalipoproteinemia, lipoprotein assembly is defective because of mutations in the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein. Here, we evaluated the intracellular transport of apolipoprotein B48 to localize the defect in Anderson's disease.

Anderson's disease: exclusion of apolipoprotein and intracellular lipid transport genes.

Anderson's disease is a rare, hereditary hypocholesterolemic syndrome characterized by chronic diarrhea, steatorrhea, and failure to thrive associated with the absence of apo B48-containing lipoproteins. To further define the molecular basis of the disease, we studied 8 affected subjects in 7 unrelated families of North African origin after treatment with a low-fat diet. Lipid loading of intestinal biopsies persisted, but the pattern and extent of loading was variable among the patients.

Steatohepatitis-inducing drugs cause mitochondrial dysfunction and lipid peroxidation in rat hepatocytes.

Background & Aims: 4,4'-Diethylaminoethoxyhexestrol (DEAEH), amiodarone, and perhexiline cause steatohepatitis in humans. The mechanisms of these effects are unknown for DEAEH and have not been completely elucidated for amiodarone and perhexiline. The aim of this study was to determine these mechanisms.

Ultrastructural immunogold labeling of lipid-laden enterocytes from patients with genetic malabsorption syndromes.

Intestinal biopsies from patients having genetic disorders of lipoprotein assembly and secretion, such as abetalipoproteinemia (ABL) or Anderson's disease (AD), contain large amounts of lipids which are accumulated in the enterocytes. Determination of the intracellular sites in which the lipids accumulate and to which apolipoproteins the lipids are bound would help to identify the defects in these diseases and further elucidate the mechanisms by which lipoprotein assembly and secretion occur normally. Ultrastructural immunogold labeling, however, is hampered by the poor preservation of the lipids accumulated in the enterocytes of these patients.

Liver fibrosis in a patient with familial homozygous hypobetalipoproteinaemia: possible role of vitamin supplementation.

A case of apolipoprotein B-related disorder is reported in which liver fibrosis developed without long term administration of medium chain triglycerides, previously incriminated in the pathogenesis of this lesion. The patient was a young woman in whom the diagnosis of familial homozygous hypobetalipoproteinaemia was made at the age of 21. A first liver specimen taken at diagnosis revealed steatosis, hypertrophic Golgi apparatus and proliferating smooth endoplasmic reticulum.

The isolated perfused rat spleen. An original method for studying the function of hepatocytes transplanted into the spleen.

The aim of this study was to assess directly the function of isolated hepatocytes 1 year after transplantation into the spleen, using an original model of isolated rat-spleen perfusion. Three specific liver functions, albumin synthesis, indocyanine-green clearance, and antipyrine oxidation, were studied. Five x 10(6) isolated hepatocytes were injected into the spleen of syngenic Wistar-Furth rats.

Further cellular investigation of the human hepatoblastoma-derived cell line HepG2: morphology and immunocytochemical studies of hepatic-secreted proteins.

The hepatoblastoma cell line HepG2 has been a matter of many investigations; most of them include biochemical studies of lipoprotein and other hepatic protein metabolism. However, the accurate cellular features of these cells have not been emphasized. We studied the cellular histologic, histochemical, and ultrastructural characteristics of this cell line.

Immunoperoxidase localization of apolipoprotein D in human enterocytes and hepatocytes.

In this study we prepared a pure apolipoprotein D and obtained a specific antiserum to it. The purified apolipoprotein D migrated as a single band of Mr = 29,000 but appeared as five isoforms on isoelectrofocusing. The antiserum did not cross-react with other apolipoproteins.

Can hepatocytes proliferate when transplanted into the spleen? Demonstration by autohistoradiography in the rat.

The aim of this work was to study hepatocyte multiplication after transplantation into the spleen, in order to apply this technique to the treatment of chronic liver disease. Hepatocytes isolated by an in situ collagenase perfusion technique in Wistar Furth rats were injected into the splenic parenchyma of three groups of syngeneic rats: controls with normal liver (group 1), 75% hepatectomies (group 2), and end-to-side portacaval shunts (group 3). The proliferation of transplanted hepatocytes was studied by autohistoradiography after the intraperitoneal administration of 0.

High-yield preparation of porcine hepatocytes for long survival after transplantation in the spleen.

The creation of an auxiliary liver by autotransplantation of liver parenchymal cells into the spleen has mainly been studied in rats for the treatment of acute liver failure. In order to apply this procedure to humans with chronic liver insufficiency the aim of this work was: To demonstrate that hepatocytes can survive for long periods after autotransplantation into the spleen; to increase the yield of the isolation of hepatocytes obtained from pig livers since this animal has a more fibrous liver than rats or normal humans and consequently one which is more difficult to dissociate. In 21 pigs isolated hepatocytes were obtained with in collagenase dissociation technique, the yield being 1-3 X 10(7) cells per gram of liver and the viability 70-95%.

[Histological and histoenzymological study of liver. II: In gallstone treated with chenodeoxycholic acid (author's transl)].

The histological and histochemical changes of liver from gallstones treated with ACDC are confronted with the same livers before treatment. There is few modification in histological patterns but the frequency of sinusoidal congestion increase. Numerous histoenzymological "injuries" are corrected by this treatment.

[Histological and histoenzymological study of liver. I: In gallstone without treatment (author's transl)].

46 liver biopsies from gallstones and a control group have been studied by histological and histoenzymological technics. The most frequent injuries are in the portal tract, inflammatory infiltration and fibrosis; the most peculiar is a sinusoidal congestion. A brown pigment overload is seen in numerous livers.