Cannabinoid receptor 2 agonist ameliorates mesenteric angiogenesis and portosystemic collaterals in cirrhotic rats
Hui‐Chun Huang, Sun‐Sang Wang, I‐Fang Hsin, Ching‐Chih Chang, Fa‐Yauh Lee, Han‐Chieh Lin, Chiao‐Lin Chuang, Jing‐Yi Lee, Hsian‐Guey Hsieh, Shou‐Dong Lee – 30 January 2012 – Angiogenesis in liver cirrhosis leads to splanchnic hyperemia, increased portal inflow, and portosystemic collaterals formation, which may induce lethal complications, such as gastroesophageal variceal hemorrhage and hepatic encephalopathy. Cannabinoids (CBs) inhibit angiogenesis, but the relevant influences in cirrhosis are unknown.
To split or not to split: That is the question
Riccardo Superina – 28 January 2012
Development of organ‐specific donor risk indices
Sanjeev K. Akkina, Sumeet K. Asrani, Yi Peng, Peter Stock, W. Ray Kim, Ajay K. Israni – 28 January 2012 – Because of the shortage of deceased donor organs, transplant centers accept organs from marginal deceased donors, including older donors. Organ‐specific donor risk indices have been developed to predict graft survival with various combinations of donor and recipient characteristics. Here we review the kidney donor risk index (KDRI) and the liver donor risk index (LDRI) and compare and contrast their strengths, limitations, and potential uses.
Unraveling the genetics of fatty liver in obese children: Additive effect of P446L GCKR and I148M PNPLA3 polymorphisms
Luca Valenti, Anna Alisi, Valerio Nobili – 27 January 2012
Long‐term low‐dose maintenance pegylated interferon may prevent decompensation in cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension: Are we there yet?
Gennaro D'Amico, Fabio Tine – 27 January 2012
Exiting from uncharted territory: Hepatitis C virus assembles in mouse cell lines
Margaret A. Scull, Alexander Ploss – 27 January 2012
Cidea promotes hepatic steatosis by sensing dietary fatty acids
Linkang Zhou, Li Xu, Jing Ye, De Li, Wenshan Wang, Xuanhe Li, Lizhen Wu, Hui Wang, Feifei Guan, Peng Li – 25 January 2012 – High levels of dietary saturated fat have been closely associated with the development of hepatic steatosis, but the factors that mediate this process remain elusive. Here, we observed that the level of cell death‐inducing DNA fragmentation factor‐alpha‐like effector a (Cidea) expression was highly correlated with the severity of hepatic steatosis in humans.
Inhibitory effects of microRNA 19b in hepatic stellate cell‐mediated fibrogenesis
Ashley M. Lakner, Nury M. Steuerwald, Tracy L. Walling, Sriparna Ghosh, Ting Li, Iain H. McKillop, Mark W. Russo, Herbert L. Bonkovsky, Laura W. Schrum – 25 January 2012 – Hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation is a pivotal event in initiation and progression of hepatic fibrosis and a major contributor to collagen deposition driven by transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β). MicroRNAs (miRs), small noncoding RNAs modulating messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression, have emerged as key regulatory molecules in chronic liver disease.
Performance of magnetic resonance elastography and diffusion‐weighted imaging for the staging of hepatic fibrosis: A meta‐analysis
Qing‐Bing Wang, Hui Zhu, Hai‐Ling Liu, Bei Zhang – 25 January 2012 – A meta‐analysis was performed to assess and compare the accuracies of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) for the staging of hepatic fibrosis. Online journal databases and a manual search from January 2000 to May 2011 were used. We identified 41 studies, but only 14 met the criteria to perform a meta‐analysis assessing MRE (five trials) or DWI (10 trials). Fibrosis was categorized by redistribution into five stages according to histopathological description.