Kenneth E. Sherman, David L. Thomas, Raymond T. Chung – 2 December 2011 – Liver disease continues to represent a critical mediator of morbidity and mortality in those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The frequent presence and overlap of concomitant injurious processes, including hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus infections, hepatoxicity associated with antiretroviral therapeutic agents, alcohol, and other toxins, in the setting of immunosuppression lead to rapid fibrotic progression and early development of end‐stage liver disease.

Gulam H. Syed, Aleem Siddiqui – 2 December 2011 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) relies on host lipid metabolic pathways for its replication, assembly, secretion, and entry. HCV induces de novo lipogenesis, inhibits β‐oxidation, and lipoprotein export resulting in a lipid‐enriched cellular environment critical for its proliferation. We investigated the effects of a hypolipidemic agent, nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), on host lipid/fatty acid synthesis and HCV life cycle. NDGA negated the HCV‐induced alteration of host lipid homeostasis.

Xiaohua Li, Qingchuan Zhao, Kaichun Wu, Daiming Fan – 2 December 2011

Chun‐Ming Wong, Carmen Chak‐Lui Wong, Joyce Man‐Fong Lee, Dorothy Ngo‐Yin Fan, Sandy Leung‐Kuen Au, Irene Oi‐Lin Ng – 2 December 2011 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent cancer with an extremely high mortality rate attributed to HCC metastasis, which is the major cause of tumor recurrence and organ failure. Presence of tumor thrombi in the portal veins (venous metastases) is a clinicopathological feature of metastatic HCCs.

Ashish Goel, Banumathi Ramakrishna, Kadiyala Madhu, Uday Zachariah, Jeyamani Ramachandran, Shyamkumar N. Keshava, Elwyn Elias, Chundamannil E. Eapen – 2 December 2011

Yang Liu, Shengdian Wang, Fusheng Wang, Dongling Li, Linghua Zheng, Pan Zheng – 2 December 2011

Keith D. Lindor, M.D. – 2 December 2011

Pranoti Mandrekar, Aditya Ambade, Arlene Lim, Gyongyi Szabo, Donna Catalano – 2 December 2011 – The importance of chemokines in alcoholic liver injury has been implicated. The role of the chemokine, monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (MCP‐1), elevated in patients with alcoholic liver disease is not yet understood. Here, we evaluated the pathophysiological significance of MCP‐1 and its receptor, chemokine (C‐C motif) receptor 2 (CCR2), in alcoholic liver injury.

Svetlana Marukian, Linda Andrus, Timothy P. Sheahan, Christopher T. Jones, Edgar D. Charles, Alexander Ploss, Charles M. Rice, Lynn B. Dustin – 2 December 2011 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication in primary liver cells is less robust than that in hepatoma cell lines, suggesting that innate antiviral mechanisms in primary cells may limit HCV replication or spread. Here we analyzed the expression of 47 genes associated with interferon (IFN) induction and signaling following HCV infection of primary human fetal liver cell (HFLC) cultures from 18 different donors.

Emmanuel A. Tsochatzis, Giacomo Germani, Amar P. Dhillon, Andrew K. Burroughs – 2 December 2011