Assessment of current criteria for primary nonresponse in chronic hepatitis B patients receiving entecavir therapy

Young‐Joo Yang, Ju Hyun Shim, Kang Mo Kim, Young‐Suk Lim, Han Chu Lee – 29 October 2013 – A primary nonresponse to oral drugs against hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a generally accepted criterion for interrupting treatment. We investigated whether the concept of primary nonresponse suggested by current American (AASLD) and European (EASL) guidelines is appropriate for treatment with entecavir (ETV). The study included 1,254 treatment‐naïve patients who had pretreatment HBV DNA levels of >2,000 IU/mL and received ETV 0.5 mg/day for over 6 months.

Activated macrophages promote hepatitis C virus entry in a tumor necrosis factor‐dependent manner

Nicola F. Fletcher, Rupesh Sutaria, Juandy Jo, Amy Barnes, Miroslava Blahova, Luke W. Meredith, Francois‐Loic Cosset, Stuart M. Curbishley, David H. Adams, Antonio Bertoletti, Jane A. McKeating – 29 October 2013 – Macrophages are critical components of the innate immune response in the liver. Chronic hepatitis C is associated with immune infiltration and the infected liver shows a significant increase in total macrophage numbers; however, their role in the viral life cycle is poorly understood.

Protection against RNA‐induced liver damage by myeloid cells requires type I interferon and IL‐1 receptor antagonist in mice

Elea Conrad, Theresa K. Resch, Patricia Gogesch, Ulrich Kalinke, Ingo Bechmann, Christian Bogdan, Zoe Waibler – 29 October 2013 – Cell types and mechanisms involved in type I interferon (IFN)‐mediated anti‐inflammatory effects are poorly understood. Upon injection of artificial double‐stranded RNA (poly(I:C)), we observed severe liver damage in type I IFN‐receptor (IFNAR) chain 1‐deficient mice, but not in wild‐type (WT) controls. Studying mice with conditional IFNAR ablations revealed that IFNAR triggering of myeloid cells is essential to protect mice from poly(I:C)‐induced liver damage.

Nuclear factor (erythroid‐derived 2)‐like 2 activation‐induced hepatic very‐low‐density lipoprotein receptor overexpression in response to oxidative stress contributes to alcoholic liver disease in mice

Zhigang Wang, Xiaobing Dou, Songtao Li, Ximei Zhang, Xinguo Sun, Zhanxiang Zhou, Zhenyuan Song – 29 October 2013 – Chronic alcohol consumption leads to hypertriglyceridemia, which is positively associated with alcoholic liver disease (ALD). However, whether and how it contributes to the development of fatty liver and liver injury are largely unknown. In this study we demonstrate that chronic alcohol exposure differently regulates the expression of very‐low‐density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) in adipose tissue and the liver.

Automated image analysis method for detecting and quantifying macrovesicular steatosis in hematoxylin and eosin–stained histology images of human livers

Nir I. Nativ, Alvin I. Chen, Gabriel Yarmush, Scot D. Henry, Jay H. Lefkowitch, Kenneth M. Klein, Timothy J. Maguire, Rene Schloss, James V. Guarrera, Francois Berthiaume, Martin L. Yarmush – 29 October 2013 – Large‐droplet macrovesicular steatosis (ld‐MaS) in more than 30% of liver graft hepatocytes is a major risk factor for liver transplantation.

Vitamin D status of human immunodeficiency virus–positive patients with advanced liver disease enrolled in the solid organ transplantation in HIV: Multi‐site study

Andrea D. Branch, Burc Barin, Adeeb Rahman, Peter Stock, Thomas D. Schiano – 29 October 2013 – An optimal vitamin D status may benefit liver transplantation (LT) patients. Higher levels of 25‐hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] mitigate steroid‐induced bone loss after LT, correlate with better hepatitis C virus treatment responses, and increase graft survival.

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