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.

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.

Aras N. Mattis, Guisheng Song, Kelly Hitchner, Roy Y. Kim, Andrew Y. Lee, Amar D. Sharma, Yann Malato, Michael T. McManus, Christine C. Esau, Erich Koller, Suneil Koliwad, Lee P. Lim, Jacquelyn J. Maher, Robert L. Raffai, Holger Willenbring – 18 August 2014

John W. Ward – 18 August 2014

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