The impact of lifetime alcohol use on hepatitis C treatment outcomes in privately insured members of an integrated health care plan

Marcia Russell, Mary Patricia Pauly, Charles Denton Moore, Constance Chia, Jennifer Dorrell, Renee J. Cunanan, Gayle Witt, Scott Martin – 5 April 2012 – Treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection (HCV+) has historically been shown to be less effective in patients with a heavy drinking history. The effect of moderate and heavy alcohol use on treatment with pegylated interferon‐alpha and ribavirin (P/R) in an insured household population has not been previously reported.

Real‐time tissue elastography for evaluation of hepatic fibrosis and portal hypertension in nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases

Hironori Ochi, Masashi Hirooka, Yohei Koizumi, Teruki Miyake, Yoshio Tokumoto, Yoshiko Soga, Fujimasa Tada, Masanori Abe, Yoichi Hiasa, Morikazu Onji – 5 April 2012 – The aim of this study was to prospectively measure liver stiffness with real‐time tissue elastography in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) and to compare the result with the clinical assessment of fibrosis using histological stage.

Clinical significance of azathioprine metabolites for the maintenance of remission in autoimmune hepatitis

Harpreet K. Dhaliwal, Rory Anderson, Elizabeth L. Thornhill, Sarah Schneider, Elaine McFarlane, Dermot Gleeson, Lynne Lennard – 5 April 2012 – Azathioprine (AZA) is used to maintain remission in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), but up to 18% of patients are unresponsive. AZA is a prodrug, and the formation of active thioguanine nucleotide (TGN) metabolites varies widely.

The basic helix‐loop‐helix transcription factor, heart and neural crest derivatives expressed transcript 2, marks hepatic stellate cells in zebrafish: Analysis of stellate cell entry into the developing liver

Chunyue Yin, Kimberley J. Evason, Jacquelyn J. Maher, Didier Y.R. Stainier – 5 April 2012 – Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are liver‐specific mesenchymal cells that play vital roles in liver development and injury. Our knowledge of HSC biology is limited by the paucity of in vivo data. HSCs and sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs) reside in close proximity, and interactions between these two cell types are potentially critical for their development and function. Here, we introduce a transgenic zebrafish line, Tg(hand2:EGFP), that labels HSCs.

Osteopontin is a novel downstream target of SOX9 with diagnostic implications for progression of liver fibrosis in humans

James Pritchett, Emma Harvey, Varinder Athwal, Andrew Berry, Cliff Rowe, Fiona Oakley, Anna Moles, Derek A. Mann, Nicoletta Bobola, Andrew D. Sharrocks, Brian J. Thomson, Abed M. Zaitoun, William L. Irving, Indra N. Guha, Neil A. Hanley, Karen Piper Hanley – 5 April 2012 – Osteopontin (OPN) is an important component of the extracellular matrix (ECM), which promotes liver fibrosis and has been described as a biomarker for its severity.

Histone methyltransferase ASH1 orchestrates fibrogenic gene transcription during myofibroblast transdifferentiation

Maria Jesus Perugorria, Caroline L. Wilson, Mujdat Zeybel, Meagan Walsh, Shilu Amin, Stuart Robinson, Steven A. White, Alastair D. Burt, Fiona Oakley, Hidekazu Tsukamoto, Derek A. Mann, Jelena Mann – 4 April 2012 – Transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) to a myofibroblast‐like phenotype is the pivotal event in liver fibrosis. The dramatic change in phenotype associated with transdifferentiation is underpinned by a global change in gene expression.

Distinct contribution of human cord blood‐derived endothelial colony forming cells to liver and gut in a fetal sheep model

Joshua A. Wood, Evan Colletti, Laura E. Mead, David Ingram, Christopher D. Porada, Esmail D. Zanjani, Mervin C. Yoder, Graça Almeida‐Porada – 4 April 2012 – Although the vasculogenic potential of circulating and cord blood (CB)‐derived endothelial colony‐forming cells (ECFC) has been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo, little is known about the inherent biologic ability of these cells to home to different organs and contribute to tissue‐specific cell populations.

Vaniprevir with pegylated interferon alpha‐2a and ribavirin in treatment‐naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C: A randomized phase II study

Michael P. Manns, Edward Gane, Maribel Rodriguez‐Torres, Albrecht Stoehr, Chau‐Ting Yeh, Patrick Marcellin, Richard T. Wiedmann, Peggy M. Hwang, Luzelena Caro, Richard J.O. Barnard, Andrew W. Lee, for the MK‐7009 Protocol 007 Study Group – 2 April 2012 – Vaniprevir (MK‐7009) is a macrocyclic hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 3/4A protease inhibitor. The aim of the present phase II study was to examine virologic response rates with vaniprevir in combination with pegylated interferon alpha‐2a (Peg‐IFN‐α‐2a) plus ribavirin (RBV).

Serum autotaxin is increased in pruritus of cholestasis, but not of other origin, and responds to therapeutic interventions

Andreas E. Kremer, Remco van Dijk, Pamela Leckie, Frank G. Schaap, Edith M.M. Kuiper, Thomas Mettang, Katrin S. Reiners, Ulrike Raap, Henk R. van Buuren, Karel J. van Erpecum, Nathan A. Davies, Christian Rust, Andreas Engert, Rajiv Jalan, Ronald P.J. Oude Elferink, Ulrich Beuers – 2 April 2012 – Pruritus is a seriously disabling symptom accompanying many cholestatic liver disorders. Recent experimental evidence implicated the lysophospholipase, autotaxin (ATX), and its product, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), as potential mediators of cholestatic pruritus.

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