Simon Hohenester, Ulrich Beuers – 2 December 2011 – Nuclear hormone receptors regulate diverse metabolic pathways and the orphan nuclear receptor LRH‐1 (also known as NR5A2) regulates bile acid biosynthesis. Structural studies have identified phospholipids as potential LRH‐1 ligands, but their functional relevance is unclear. Here we show that an unusual phosphatidyl‐choline species with two saturated 12 carbon fatty acid acyl side chains (dilauroyl phosphatidylcholine (DLPC)) is an LRH‐1 agonist ligand in vitro.

2 December 2011

Salvatore Petta, Daniele Torres, Giovanni Fazio, Calogero Cammà, Daniela Cabibi, Vito Di Marco, Anna Licata, Giulio Marchesini, Alessandra Mazzola, Gaspare Parrinello, Salvatore Novo, Giuseppe Licata, Antonio Craxì – 2 December 2011 – There are contrasting results in studies of cardiovascular risk in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C (G1 CHC). We evaluated the prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis compared with a control population in order to assess the potential association between atherosclerosis, host and viral factors, and liver histological features.

Andrew J. Paris, Zohar Snapir, Cindy D. Christopherson, Shirley Y. Kwok, Ursula E. Lee, Zahra Ghiassi‐Nejad, Peri Kocabayoglu, John J. Sninsky, Josep M. Llovet, Chaim Kahana, Scott L. Friedman – 2 December 2011 – Among several single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that correlate with fibrosis progression in chronic HCV, an SNP in the antizyme inhibitor (AzI) gene is most strongly associated with slow fibrosis progression. Our aim was to identify the mechanism(s) underlying this observation by exploring the impact of the AzI SNP on hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activity.

Sandra Ciesek, Thomas von Hahn, Che C. Colpitts, Luis M. Schang, Martina Friesland, Jörg Steinmann, Michael P. Manns, Michael Ott, Heiner Wedemeyer, Philip Meuleman, Thomas Pietschmann, Eike Steinmann – 2 December 2011 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current antiviral therapy fails to clear infection in a substantial proportion of cases. Drug development is focused on nonstructural proteins required for RNA replication. Individuals undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation face rapid, universal reinfection of the graft.

Isabelle A. Leclercq, Derrick M. Van Rooyen, Geoffrey C. Farrell – 2 December 2011 – The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the main site of protein and lipid synthesis, membrane biogenesis, xenobiotic detoxification and cellular calcium storage, and perturbation of ER homeostasis leads to stress and the activation of the unfolded protein response. Chronic activation of ER stress has been shown to have an important role in the development of insulin resistance and diabetes in obesity.

Kathryn J. Fowler, Jeffrey J. Brown, Vamsi R. Narra – 2 December 2011 – This article is a review of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of incidental focal liver lesions. This review provides an overview of liver MRI protocol, diffusion‐weighted imaging, and contrast agents. Additionally, the most commonly encountered benign and malignant lesions are discussed with emphasis on imaging appearance and the diagnostic performance of MRI based on a review of the literature. (HEPATOLOGY 2011)

2 December 2011

Maurizio Montella, Jerry Polesel, Renato Talamini, Anna Crispo, Aldo Giudice, Francesco Izzo, Carlo La Vecchia – 2 December 2011

Haripriya Maddur, Paul Y. Kwo – 2 December 2011