On‐treatment alpha‐fetoprotein is a specific tumor marker for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B receiving entecavir

Grace L.H. Wong, Henry L.Y. Chan, Yee‐Kit Tse, Hoi‐Yun Chan, Chi‐Hang Tse, Angeline O.S. Lo, Vincent W.S. Wong – 1 October 2013 – Alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) is the most widely used biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance, which is criticized as neither sensitive nor specific in active hepatitis and liver cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to determine the performance of AFP as a tumor marker for HCC in entecavir‐treated patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

Neoadjuvant stereotactic body radiation therapy, capecitabine, and liver transplantation for unresectable hilar cholangiocarcinoma

Theodore H. Welling, Mary Feng, Shanshan Wan, Sin Ye Hwang, Michael L. Volk, Theodore S. Lawrence, Mark M. Zalupski, Christopher J. Sonnenday – 1 October 2013 – Hilar cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a difficult malignancy to treat surgically because of its anatomical location and its frequent association with primary sclerosing cholangitis. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by liver transplantation in lymph node–negative patients has been advanced by select liver transplant centers for the treatment of patients with unresectable disease.

Endothelin‐1 receptor A blocker darusentan decreases hepatic changes and improves liver repopulation after cell transplantation in rats

Ralf Bahde, Sorabh Kapoor, Preeti Viswanathan, Hans‐Ullrich Spiegel, Sanjeev Gupta – 1 October 2013 – Cell transplantation‐induced hepatic ischemia and recruitment of vasoconstrictors (e.g., endothelin‐1; Edn1) leads to clearance of transplanted cells and poses problems for liver repopulation. Therefore, we determined whether darusentan (DAR), which potently blocks Edn1 receptor type A, could benefit cell engraftment. We transplanted primary F344 rat hepatocytes with or without DAR in dipeptidyl peptidase IV–deficient rats.

Donor PNPLA3 rs738409 genotype affects fibrosis progression in liver transplantation for hepatitis C

Winston Dunn, Maura O'Neil, Jie Zhao, Chuang Hong Wu, Benjamin Roberts, Shweta Chakraborty, Craig Sherman, Brandy Weaver, Ryan Taylor, Jody Olson, Mojtaba Olyaee, Richard Gilroy, Timothy Schmitt, Yu‐Jui Yvonne Wan, Steven A. Weinman – 1 October 2013 – The rs738409 G>C single nucleotide polymorphism occurring in the patatin‐like phospholipase 3 gene has been identified as a novel genetic marker for hepatic steatosis. Recent studies also associated rs738409 with fibrosis in hepatitis C (HCV).

Novel inflammatory biomarkers of portal pressure in compensated cirrhosis patients

Martina Buck, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Roberto J. Groszmann, Caitlin Stalling, Norman D. Grace, Andrew K. Burroughs, David Patch, Daniel S. Matloff, Paul Clopton, Mario Chojkier – 1 October 2013 – The rationale for screening inflammatory serum biomarkers of the hepatic vein pressure gradient (HVPG) is based on the fact that portal hypertension is pathogenically related to liver injury and fibrosis, and that in turn these are associated with the activation of inflammatory pathways.

Abusive drinking after liver transplantation is associated with allograft loss and advanced allograft fibrosis

John P. Rice, Jens Eickhoff, Rashmi Agni, Aiman Ghufran, Rinjal Brahmbhatt, Michael R. Lucey – 1 October 2013 – In patients who undergo liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease (ALD), alcohol relapse is common. A return to abusive or excessive drinking likely decreases overall survival; however, the effects of alcohol use on allograft outcomes and histopathology are less well defined. We reviewed all cases of liver transplantation with ALD as an indication between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2007.

Interferon regulatory factor 3 constrains IKKβ/NF‐κB signaling to alleviate hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance

Xin‐An Wang, Ran Zhang, Zhi‐Gang She, Xiao‐Fei Zhang, Ding‐Sheng Jiang, Tao Wang, Lu Gao, Wei Deng, Shu‐Min Zhang, Li‐Hua Zhu, Sen Guo, Ke Chen, Xiao‐Dong Zhang, De‐Pei Liu, Hongliang Li – 1 October 2013 – Obesity and related metabolic diseases associated with chronic low‐grade inflammation greatly compromise human health. Previous observations on the roles of interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) in the regulation of metabolism prompted investigation of the involvement of a key family member, IRF3, in metabolic disorders.

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