Nicola Oehler, Tassilo Volz, Oliver D. Bhadra, Janine Kah, Lena Allweiss, Katja Giersch, Jeanette Bierwolf, Kristoffer Riecken, Jörg M. Pollok, Ansgar W. Lohse, Boris Fehse, Joerg Petersen, Stephan Urban, Marc Lütgehetmann, Joerg Heeren, Maura Dandri – 8 April 2014 – Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been associated with alterations in lipid metabolism. Moreover, the Na+‐taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP), responsible for bile acid (BA) uptake into hepatocytes, was identified as the functional cellular receptor mediating HBV entry.

Amy Gallo, Carlos O. Esquivel – 8 April 2014

Min‐Jun Wang, Fei Chen, Jian‐Xiu Li, Chang‐Cheng Liu, Hai‐Bin Zhang, Yong Xia, Bing Yu, Pu You, Dao Xiang, Lian Lu, Hao Yao, Uyunbilig Borjigin, Guang‐Shun Yang, Kirk J. Wangensteen, Zhi‐Ying He, Xin Wang, Yi‐Ping Hu – 7 April 2014 – A better understanding of hepatocyte senescence could be used to treat age‐dependent disease processes of the liver. Whether continuously proliferating hepatocytes could avoid or reverse senescence has not yet been fully elucidated.

Michael L. Volk, Meghan Roney, Angela Fagerlin – 7 April 2014 – Prior studies have shown that patients are reluctant to accept donor‐specific risks, and transplant professionals lack an effective and time‐efficient means of obtaining informed consent. We designed and pilot‐tested a Web‐based patient decision aid (DA) on organ quality. The DA was administered to 53 liver transplant candidates (median Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease score = 14, range = 7‐26), and they took a mean of 15 minutes to complete it. Questions about knowledge and attitudes were asked before and after the DA.

Ashwin Balagopal, Abraham J. Kandathil, Yvonne H. Higgins, Jonathan Wood, Justin Richer, Jeffrey Quinn, Lois Eldred, Zhiping Li, Stuart C. Ray, Mark S. Sulkowski, David L. Thomas – 5 April 2014 – Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) cause substantial mortality, especially in persons chronically infected with both viruses. HIV infection raises plasma HCV RNA levels and diminishes the response to exogenous alpha interferon (IFN). The degree to which antiretroviral therapy (ART) control of infection overcomes these HIV effects is unknown.

Kohta Iguchi, Etsuro Hatano, Kenya Yamanaka, Motohiko Sato, Gen Yamamoto, Yosuke Kasai, Tatsuya Okamoto, Masayuki Okuno, Kojiro Taura, Kyoko Fukumoto, Kazuyuki Ueno, Shinji Uemoto – 4 April 2014 – Excessive portal flow to a small remnant liver or small‐for‐size graft is a primary factor of small‐for‐size syndrome. We demonstrated that olprinone (OLP), a phosphodiesterase III inhibitor, had a hepatoprotective effect in a rat extended hepatectomy model and a small‐for‐size liver transplantation model through a modification of the portal venous pressure (PVP).

Michael D. Leise, Nelson Leung, Ziad El‐Zoghby, Humberto C. Gonzalez Gonzalez, Jane H. Cerhan, Scott L. Nyberg – 4 April 2014

Michel Fausther, Jonathan A. Dranoff – 2 April 2014

Mark W. Russo, Jay H. Hoofnagle, Jiezhun Gu, Robert J. Fontana, Huiman Barnhart, David E. Kleiner, Naga Chalasani, Herbert L. Bonkovsky – 2 April 2014 – The HMG‐CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) are widely prescribed for patients with hyperlipidemia and are generally well tolerated. Mild elevations in serum aminotransferases arise in up to 3% of treated patients, but clinically apparent drug‐induced liver injury is rare. The aim of this study is to report the presenting features and outcomes of 22 patients with clinically apparent liver injury due to statins.

Salvatore Piano, Lucio Marchioro, Elisabetta Gola, Silvia Rosi, Filippo Morando, Marta Cavallin, Antonietta Sticca, Silvano Fasolato, Giovanni Forza, Anna Chiara Frigo, Mario Plebani, Giacomo Zanus, Umberto Cillo, Angelo Gatta, Paolo Angeli – 2 April 2014 – The detection of alcohol consumption in liver transplant candidates (LTCs) and liver transplant recipients (LTRs) is required to enable a proper assessment of transplant eligibility and early management of alcohol relapse, respectively.