Supriya Sen, Magda Langiewicz, Hassan Jumaa, Nicholas J.G. Webster – 18 August 2014

Florian Bömmel, Anne Bartens, Alena Mysickova, Jörg Hofmann, Detlev H. Krüger, Thomas Berg, Anke Edelmann – 18 August 2014 – Hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion represents an endpoint of treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. We have studied whether levels of serum HBV RNA during polymerase inhibitor treatment might be helpful for predicting HBeAg seroconversion. HBV RNA levels were determined in serial serum samples from 62 patients with chronic HBV infection (50 HBeAg positive).

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.

Evrim Anadol, Robert Schierwagen, Natalia Elfimova, Katharina Tack, Carolynne Schwarze‐Zander, Hanna Eischeid, Andrea Noetel, Christoph Boesecke, Christian Jansen, Leona Dold, Jan‐Christian Wasmuth, Christian P. Strassburg, Ulrich Spengler, Jürgen Kurt Rockstroh, Margarete Odenthal, Jonel Trebicka – 14 August 2014 – Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis virus coinfection amplify and accelerate hepatic injury. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory RNAs suggested as biomarkers for liver injury.

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).

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

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.

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).

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

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).