Michael R. Kraus, Arne Schäfer, Gerlinde Teuber, Heiner Porst, Kathrin Sprinzl, Sven Wollschläger, Christian Keicher, Michael Scheurlen – 8 January 2013 – Earlier studies have suggested neurocognitive impairment in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection even before liver cirrhosis has developed. Since these deficits might be reversible after successful antiviral therapy, we analyzed the long‐term course of neurocognitive parameters in HCV patients with and without successful virus elimination by an interferon‐based antiviral treatment.

Naga Chalasani – 7 January 2013

Alexa Schieck, Andreas Schulze, Caroline Gähler, Thomas Müller, Uwe Haberkorn, Alexander Alexandrov, Stephan Urban, Walter Mier – 4 January 2013 – The human hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes acute and chronic infections in humans and chimpanzees. HBV infects its hosts at minimal inoculation doses and replicates exclusively in hepatocytes. The viral determinants for the pronounced species specificity and the high efficacy to address hepatocytes in vivo are unknown.

28 December 2012

Michael R. Lucey, Norah Terrault, Lolu Ojo, J. Eileen Hay, James Neuberger, Emily Blumberg, Lewis W. Teperman – 28 December 2012

Gitte Dam, Susanne Keiding, Ole L. Munk, Peter Ott, Hendrik Vilstrup, Lasse K. Bak, Helle S. Waagepetersen, Arne Schousboe, Michael S⊘rensen – 27 December 2012

Wenfang Tian, Huihui Xu, Fei Fang, Qi Chen, Yong Xu, Aiguo Shen – 26 December 2012 – Chronic inflammation, inflicted by the spillover of proinflammatory mediators, links metabolic dysfunction to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The epigenetic maneuverings that underscore accelerated synthesis of proinflammatory mediators in response to nutritional inputs are not clearly defined.

Ahmed El‐Shamy, Michiko Shindo, Ikuo Shoji, Lin Deng, Tadao Okuno, Hak Hotta – 24 December 2012 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the common sequelae of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. It remains controversial, however, whether HCV itself plays a direct role in the development of HCC. Although HCV core, NS3, and NS5A proteins were reported to display tumorigenic activities in cell culture and experimental animal systems, their clinical impact on HCC development in humans is still unclear.

John P. Allen, Friedrich M. Wurst, Natasha Thon, Raye Z. Litten – 24 December 2012 – The accurate assessment of drinking by patients with alcoholic liver disease is important both before and after liver transplantation. Unfortunately, self‐reports by these individuals often underestimate their actual alcohol consumption. Several recently developed biochemical measures can provide additional information on a patient's use of alcohol.

James E. Fisher, Joseph B. Lillegard, Travis J. Mckenzie, Brian R. Rodysill, Peter J. Wettstein, Scott L. Nyberg – 24 December 2012 – In utero cell transplantation (IUCT) can lead to the postnatal engraftment of human cells in the xenogeneic recipient. Most reports of IUCT have involved hematopoietic stem cells. It is unknown whether human hepatocytes used for IUCT in fetal pigs will lead to the engraftment of these same cells in the postnatal environment.