Macrophage plasticity and polarization in liver homeostasis and pathology

Antonio Sica, Pietro Invernizzi, Alberto Mantovani – 1 October 2013 – Resident and recruited macrophages are key players in the homeostatic function of the liver and in its response to tissue damage. In response to environmental signals, macrophages undergo polarized activation to M1 or M2 or M2‐like activation states. These are extremes of a spectrum in a universe of activation states. Progress has been made in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the polarized activation of mononuclear phagocytes.

Liver regeneration by stem/progenitor cells

Tohru Itoh, Atsushi Miyajima – 1 October 2013 – The liver is renowned for its strong, robust regenerative capacity, employing different modes of regeneration according to type and extent of injury. The process of compensatory hypertrophy of the liver upon partial hepatectomy has been standing as a classical model for studying organ regeneration in mammals and a subject of exhaustive analyses. Meanwhile, in view of the physiological relevance for many of the human liver pathologies induced upon toxic insults or hepatitis, other injury models have recently drawn increasing attention.

Substance abuse treatment and its association with relapse to alcohol use after liver transplantation

James R. Rodrigue, Douglas W. Hanto, Michael P. Curry – 1 October 2013 – Many liver transplantation (LT) programs require substance abuse (SA) treatment for candidates with a history of alcohol abuse. However, there are no data indicating that SA treatment prevents post‐LT alcohol relapse. We examined 118 adults who underwent LT from May 2002 to February 2011 to explore the relationship between SA treatment and post‐LT relapse to any alcohol use. Sixty‐one patients (52%) with a history of alcohol abuse or dependence received SA treatment before LT.

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Markus Peck‐Radosavljevic, Wolfgang Sieghart, Florian Hucke, for the Vienna HCC Study Group – 1 October 2013

Gender and menopause impact severity of fibrosis among patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Ju Dong Yang, Manal F. Abdelmalek, Herbert Pang, Cynthia D. Guy, Alastair D. Smith, Anna Mae Diehl, Ayako Suzuki – 1 October 2013 – Estrogens inhibit stellate cell activation and fibrogenesis. Thus, gender and reproductive states may influence the degree of fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Expanded classification of hepatitis C virus into 7 genotypes and 67 subtypes: Updated criteria and genotype assignment web resource

Donald B. Smith, Jens Bukh, Carla Kuiken, A. Scott Muerhoff, Charles M. Rice, Jack T. Stapleton, Peter Simmonds – 1 October 2013 – The 2005 consensus proposal for the classification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) presented an agreed and uniform nomenclature for HCV variants and the criteria for their assignment into genotypes and subtypes. Since its publication, the available dataset of HCV sequences has vastly expanded through advancement in nucleotide sequencing technologies and an increasing focus on the role of HCV genetic variation in disease and treatment outcomes.

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