Fasiha Kanwal, Steven M. Asch, Jennifer R. Kramer, Yumei Cao, Sumeet Asrani, Hashem B. El‐Serag – 17 March 2016 – Preventing readmission has been the focus of numerous quality improvement efforts across many conditions. Early outpatient follow‐up has been proposed as the best mechanism for reducing readmissions. The extent to which early outpatient follow‐up averts readmission or improves outcomes in cirrhosis is not known. We evaluated the relationship between early outpatient follow‐up and short‐term readmission and mortality in patients with cirrhosis.

Hugo E. Vargas – 17 March 2016

Raluca Wroblewski, Marietta Armaka, Vangelis Kondylis, Manolis Pasparakis, Henning Walczak, Hans‐Willi Mittrücker, Christoph Schramm, Ansgar W. Lohse, George Kollias, Hanno Ehlken – 17 March 2016 – Death receptor (DR) ligands such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) have been identified as fundamental mediators of liver damage both in mouse models and in humans. While the essential site of function of DR signaling is conceivably the hepatocyte, a systematic analysis is missing.

Andrew B. Adams, Kenneth A. Newell – 17 March 2016

Julien Bissonnette, Juan Carlos Garcia‐Pagán, Agustín Albillos, Fanny Turon, Carlos Ferreira, Luis Tellez, Jean‐Charles Nault, Nicolas Carbonell, Jean‐Paul Cervoni, Mohamed Abdel Rehim, Annie Sibert, Louis Bouchard, Pierre Perreault, Jonel Trebicka, Félix Trottier‐Tellier, Pierre‐Emmanuel Rautou, Dominique‐Charles Valla, Aurélie Plessier – 17 March 2016 – Idiopathic noncirrhotic portal hypertension is a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by portal hypertension in the absence of cirrhosis.

Rachel Abou Mrad, Nawal Merjaneh, Ghassan Mubarak, Rocio Lopez, Nizar N. Zein, Naim Alkhouri – 17 March 2016

Jung‐Chin Chang, Simei Go, Dirk R. de Waart, Patricia Munoz‐Garrido, Ulrich Beuers, Coen C. Paulusma, Ronald Oude Elferink – 17 March 2016 – Anion exchanger 2 (AE2), the principal bicarbonate secretor in the human biliary tree, is down‐regulated in primary biliary cholangitis. AE2 creates a “bicarbonate umbrella” that protects cholangiocytes from the proapoptotic effects of bile salts by maintaining them deprotonated. We observed that knockdown of AE2 sensitized immortalized H69 human cholangiocytes to not only bile salt‐induced apoptosis (BSIA) but also etoposide‐induced apoptosis.

Julio A. Gutierrez, Carmen Landaverde, Jennifer T. Wells, Fred Poordad – 17 March 2016 – Management of obesity and decompensated cirrhosis in those requiring liver transplantation (LT) is a challenging dilemma. Because of concerns for perioperative complications, many centers avoid transplant in those with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 kg/m2. Bariatric surgery is associated with increased risk attributable to complications of portal hypertension, including variceal rupture. Therefore, weight loss and LT options are limited.

Julio A. Gutierrez, Carmen Landaverde, Jennifer T. Wells, Fred Poordad – 17 March 2016 – Management of obesity and decompensated cirrhosis in those requiring liver transplantation (LT) is a challenging dilemma. Because of concerns for perioperative complications, many centers avoid transplant in those with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 kg/m2. Bariatric surgery is associated with increased risk attributable to complications of portal hypertension, including variceal rupture. Therefore, weight loss and LT options are limited.

Yasuo Takashima, Maiko Terada, Miyako Udono, Shizuka Miura, Junpei Yamamoto, Atsushi Suzuki – 17 March 2016 – In liver development, hepatoblasts that act as hepatic stem/progenitor cells proliferate and differentiate into both hepatocytes and cholangiocytes to form liver tissues. Although numerous factors contribute to this event, little is known about the roles of microRNAs in hepatoblast proliferation and differentiation.