Guangqin Xiao, Jiayin Yang, Lunan Yan – 18 August 2014 – The aspartate aminotransferase‐to‐platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis index based on the four factors (Fibrosis 4 index; FIB‐4) are the two most widely studied noninvasive tools for assessing liver fibrosis. Our aims were to systematically review the performance of APRI and FIB‐4 in hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in adult patients and compare their advantages and disadvantages.

Raul Lazaro, Raymond Wu, Sunyoung Lee, Nian‐Ling Zhu, Chia‐Lin Chen, Samuel W. French, Jun Xu, Keigo Machida, Hidekazu Tsukamoto – 18 August 2014 – Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a distinct spectrum of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) with intense neutrophilic (polymorphonuclear; PMN) inflammation and high mortality. Although a recent study implicates osteopontin (SPP1) in AH, SPP1 is also shown to have protective effects on experimental ALD.

Bastian Seubert, Barbara Grünwald, Julia Kobuch, Haissi Cui, Florian Schelter, Susanne Schaten, Jens T. Siveke, Ngee H. Lim, Hideaki Nagase, Nicole Simonavicius, Mathias Heikenwalder, Thomas Reinheckel, Jonathan P. Sleeman, Klaus‐Peter Janssen, Percy A. Knolle, Achim Krüger – 18 August 2014 – Due to its ability to inhibit prometastatic matrix metalloproteinases, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)‐1 has been thought to suppress tumor metastasis.

Laurie D. DeLeve – 18 August 2014 – Capillarization, lack of liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) fenestration, and formation of an organized basement membrane not only precedes fibrosis, but is also permissive for hepatic stellate cell activation and fibrosis. Thus, dysregulation of the LSEC phenotype is a critical step in the fibrotic process. Both a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)‐stimulated, nitric oxide (NO)‐independent pathway and a VEGF‐stimulated NO‐dependent pathway are necessary to maintain the differentiated LSEC phenotype.

Libo Wang, Shaminie Athinarayanan, Guanglong Jiang, Naga Chalasani, Min Zhang, Wanqing Liu – 14 August 2014 – Fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genes and their variants have been associated with multiple metabolic phenotypes, including liver enzymes and hepatic fat accumulation, but the detailed mechanism remains unclear. We aimed to delineate the role of FADSs in modulating lipid composition in human liver. We performed a targeted lipidomic analysis of a variety of phospholipids, sphingolipids, and ceramides among 154 human liver tissue samples.

Xu Xu, Jong‐Gil Park, Jae‐Seon So, Ann‐Hwee Lee – 14 August 2014 – Fat‐specific protein 27 (Fsp27) is a lipid droplet‐associated protein that promotes lipid droplet (LD) growth and triglyceride (TG) storage in white adipocytes. Fsp27 is also highly expressed in the steatotic liver and contributes to TG accumulation. In this study we discovered that the liver produces Fsp27β, an alternative Fsp27 isoform, which contains 10 additional amino acids at the N‐terminus of the original Fsp27 (Fsp27α).

Sun‐wook Kim, Hee‐won Jung – 14 August 2014

Mattias Ekstedt, Hannes Hagström, Patrik Nasr, Mats Fredrikson, Per Stål, Stergios Kechagias, Rolf Hultcrantz – 14 August 2014 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease in the Western world, strongly associated with insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, i.e., fatty liver accompanied by necroinflammatory changes, is mostly defined by the NAFLD activity score (NAS).

Eric F. Donaldson, Patrick R. Harrington, Julian J. O'Rear, Lisa K. Naeger – 14 August 2014 – Sofosbuvir (Sovaldi, SOF) is a nucleotide analog prodrug that targets the hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) polymerase and inhibits viral replication. High sustained virological response rates are achieved when SOF is used in combination with ribavirin with or without pegylated interferon in subjects with chronic HCV infection. Potential mechanisms of HCV resistance to SOF and other nucleos(t)ide analog NS5B polymerase inhibitors are not well understood.

Jean Charles Nault, Julien Calderaro, Luca Di Tommaso, Charles Balabaud, Elie Serge Zafrani, Paulette Bioulac‐Sage, Massimo Roncalli, Jessica Zucman‐Rossi – 14 August 2014