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).

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.

Margaret S. Sozio, Naga Chalasani – 13 August 2014

Qian Xiao, Rashmi Sinha, Barry I. Graubard, Neal D. Freedman – 13 August 2014

Anne C. Moorman, Jian Xing, Stephen Ko, Loralee B. Rupp, Fujie Xu, Stuart C. Gordon, Mei Lu, Philip R. Spradling, Eyasu H. Teshale, Joseph A. Boscarino, Vinutha Vijayadeva, Mark A. Schmidt, Scott D. Holmberg, for the CHeCS Investigators – 13 August 2014 – To determine the stage of liver disease at initial diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, we analyzed data from the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study (CHeCS), a large U.S. observational study.

Qian Xiao, Rashmi Sinha, Barry I. Graubard, Neal D. Freedman – 13 August 2014

Miriam Cortes, Niteen Tapuria, Shirin Elizabeth Khorsandi, Eugenia Pareja Ibars, Hector Vilca‐Melendez, Mohamed Rela, Nigel D. Heaton – 13 August 2014 – A diaphragmatic hernia (DH) is a rare complication of pediatric liver transplantation (LT), with multiple factors implicated in the pathophysiology. It is a potentially life‐threatening condition in the absence of early recognition and surgical treatment. A DH after LT has been reported in 16 patients in 7 case series. We report 10 cases from our institution and review the published literature to understand the underlying pathophysiology.