Inhibition of Niemann‐Pick‐type C1‐like1 by ezetimibe activates autophagy in human hepatocytes and reduces mutant α1‐antitrypsin Z deposition

Takeshi Yamamura, Yuki Ohsaki, Michitaka Suzuki, Yuki Shinohara, Tsuyako Tatematsu, Jinglei Cheng, Masato Okada, Naoki Ohmiya, Yoshiki Hirooka, Hidemi Goto, Toyoshi Fujimoto – 9 November 2013 – Autophagy can degrade aggregate‐prone proteins, but excessive autophagy can have adverse effects. It would be beneficial if autophagy could be enhanced in a cell type‐specific manner, but this has been difficult because the basic mechanism of autophagy is common.

Using surveillance data to determine treatment rates and outcomes for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Sam Lattimore, Will Irving, Sarah Collins, Celia Penman, Mary Ramsay, on Behalf of the Collaboration for the Sentinel Surveillance of Blood‐Borne Virus Testing – 9 November 2013 – The aim of this work was to develop and validate an algorithm to monitor rates of, and response to, treatment of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) across England using routine laboratory HCV RNA testing data. HCV testing activity between January 2002 and December 2011 was extracted from the local laboratory information systems of a sentinel network of 23 laboratories across England.

Osteopontin binding to lipopolysaccharide lowers tumor necrosis factor‐α and prevents early alcohol‐induced liver injury in mice

Xiaodong Ge, Tung‐Ming Leung, Elena Arriazu, Yongke Lu, Raquel Urtasun, Brian Christensen, Maria Isabel Fiel, Satoshi Mochida, Esben S. Sørensen, Natalia Nieto – 9 November 2013 – Although osteopontin (OPN) is induced in alcoholic patients, its role in the pathophysiology of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) remains unclear. Increased translocation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from the gut is key for the onset of ALD because it promotes macrophage infiltration and activation, tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNFα) production, and liver injury.

Withholding parenteral nutrition during critical illness increases plasma bilirubin but lowers the incidence of biliary sludge

Yoo‐Mee Vanwijngaerden, Lies Langouche, Richard Brunner, Yves Debaveye, Marijke Gielen, Michael Casaer, Christopher Liddle, Sally Coulter, Pieter J. Wouters, Alexander Wilmer, Greet Berghe, Dieter Mesotten – 9 November 2013 – Cholestatic liver dysfunction (CLD) and biliary sludge often occur during critical illness and are allegedly aggravated by parenteral nutrition (PN). Delaying initiation of PN beyond day 7 in the intensive care unit (ICU) (late PN) accelerated recovery as compared with early initiation of PN (early PN).

Application of complement component 4d immunohistochemistry to ABO‐compatible and ABO‐incompatible liver transplantation

Adeeb Salah, Masakazu Fujimoto, Atsushi Yoshizawa, Kimiko Yurugi, Aya Miyagawa‐Hayashino, Shinji Sumiyoshi, Sachiko Minamiguchi, Shinji Uemoto, Taira Maekawa, Hironori Haga – 6 November 2013 – Antibody‐mediated rejection (AMR) is difficult to diagnose after ABO‐compatible or ABO‐identical (ABO‐C) liver transplantation. To determine whether complement component 4d (C4d) immunostaining would be useful for diagnosing AMR, we compared the results of C4d immunohistochemistry for allograft biopsy samples with assays for anti‐donor antibodies performed at the time of biopsy.

Antibody‐mediated rejection as a contributor to previously unexplained early liver allograft loss

Jacqueline G. O'Leary, Hugo Kaneku, Anthony J. Demetris, John D. Marr, S. Michelle Shiller, Brian M. Susskind, Glenn W. Tillery, Paul I. Terasaki, Göran B. Klintmalm – 6 November 2013 – We analyzed 60 patients with idiopathic early allograft loss (defined as death or retransplantation at <90 days) to determine the relative contribution of preformed donor‐specific human leukocyte antigen alloantibodies (DSAs) to this endpoint, and we defined strict criteria for the diagnosis of antibody‐mediated rejection (AMR) in liver allografts.

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