Detection of Portal Vein Stenosis by Technetium-99m-Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic Acid-Galactosyl Human Serum Albumin Liver Scintigraphy after Living-Donor Liver Transplantation.

Background/aim: To investigate portal vein stenosis after living-donor liver transplantation by liver scintigraphy.

Methodology: A 63-year-old woman with hepatic cirrhosis due to autoimmune hepatitis underwent living-donor liver transplantation using a graft donated by her daughter. Technetium-99m-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid-galactosyl human serum albumin (Tc-99m-GSA) scintigraphy was used to determine the maximum rate of Tc-99m-GSA removal (GSA-Rmax) by hepatocytes, as a parameter of hepatic functional reserve.

A prospective randomized controlled trial of preoperative whole-liver chemolipiodolization for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: We previously reported that preoperative chemolipiodolization of the whole liver is effective for reducing the incidence of postoperative recurrence and prolonging survival in patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The present randomized controlled trial was performed to evaluate the influence of preoperative transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) on survival after the resection of HCC.

Methods: Operative results and long-term outcome were prospectively compared among 42 patients who received only selective TACE targeting the tumor (selective group), 39 patients who received TACE targeting the tumor plus chemolipiodolization of the whole liver (whole-liver group), and 43 patients without preoperative TACE or chemolipiodolization (control group).

Effect of biliary obstruction and internal biliary drainage on hepatic cytochrome P450 isozymes in rats.

Aim: To investigate the total cytochrome P450 (CYP) content, microsomal mixed-function oxidase (MFO) activity, and expression of mRNAs for various CYP isozymes in a simple rat model of reversible obstructive jaundice.

Methods: Obstructive jaundice was created in male rats by causing bile duct obstruction with polyester tape. In another group of rats, bile duct obstruction was followed by internal biliary drainage after releasing the tape.

The combination of glycyrrhizin and lamivudine can reverse the cisplatin resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma cells through inhibition of multidrug resistance-associated proteins.

Cisplatin is commonly used as a chemotherapeutic agent for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it cannot satisfactorily improve the survival rate for patients with advanced HCC due to intrinsic or acquired drug resistance caused by multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRPs). To clarify whether or not glycyrrhizin and lamivudine have modulator effects on HCC treated with cisplatin, we established a cisplatin-resistant Huh7 HCC cell line and analyzed the mRNA expression of MRPs in the resistant cells.

Multidrug resistance3 is in situ detected in the liver of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, and induced in human hepatoma cells by bezafibrate.

Bezafibrate has been empirically used for the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis. Although its clinical efficacy has been demonstrated, the therapeutic mechanism of action of this drug remains unclear. We suggested that multi-drug resistance (MDR) 3 plays an important role as a mediator of bezafibrate.