Katrien Vekemans, Diethard Monbaliu, Erika Balligand, Veerle Heedfeld, Ina Jochmans, Jacques Pirenne, Jos van Pelt – 10 October 2011 – Livers exposed to warm ischemia (WI) before transplantation are at risk for primary nonfunction (PNF), graft dysfunction, and ischemic biliary strictures, all associated with ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). Our multifactorial approach, Leuven drug protocol (LDP), has been shown to reduce these effects and increase recipient survival in WI/IRI‐damaged porcine liver transplantation.

Jeffrey W. Molloy, Christopher J. Calcagno, Christopher D. Williams, Frances J. Jones, Dawn M. Torres, Stephen A. Harrison – 10 October 2011 – Coffee caffeine consumption (CC) is associated with reduced hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic liver diseases, such as hepatitis C. The association of CC with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has not been established. The aim of this study was to correlate CC with the prevalence and severity of NAFLD.

Roberto Montalti, Antonio Mimmo, Gianluca Rompianesi, Valentina Serra, Nicola Cautero, Roberto Ballarin, Nicola De Ruvo, Robert Cunningham Gerring, Giorgio Enrico Gerunda, Fabrizio Di Benedetto – 10 October 2011 – Incisional hernias (IHs) are common complications after liver transplantation (LT) with a reported incidence of 1.7% to 34.3%. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the risk factors for IH development after LT with a focus on the role of immunosuppressive therapy during the first month after LT.

Jillian S. Sullivan, Shikha S. Sundaram, Zhaoxing Pan, Ronald J. Sokol – 10 October 2011 – The objective of this study was to determine the impact of parenteral nutrition (PN) on the outcomes of biliary atresia (BA) patients listed for liver transplantation (LT). We retrospectively reviewed the charts of all BA patients at our institution who underwent hepatoportoenterostomy and were listed for LT before the age of 36 months between 1990 and 2010. The initiation of PN was based on clinical indications. Twenty‐five PN subjects and 22 non‐PN subjects (74% female) were studied.

Irinel Popescu, Simona O. Dima – 10 October 2011 – Domino liver transplantation (DLT) has emerged as a strategy for increasing the number of liver grafts available: morphologically normal livers from donors with metabolic diseases can be used for select recipients with hepatocellular carcinoma (usually outside the Milan criteria). Familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) is the most common indication for DLT.

Constance E. Ruhl, James E. Everhart – 10 October 2011 – Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is an important test for liver disease, yet there is no generally accepted upper limit of normal (ULN) in the United States. Furthermore, the ability of ALT to differentiate persons with and without liver disease is uncertain. We examined cut‐offs for ALT for their ability to discriminate between persons with positive hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and those at low risk for liver injury in the U.S. population. Among adult participants in the 1999‐2008 U.S.

Joris J. Blok, Andries E. Braat, Rene Adam, Andrew K. Burroughs, Hein Putter, Nigel G. Kooreman, Axel O. Rahmel, Robert J. Porte, Xavier Rogiers, Jan Ringers, for the European Liver Intestine Transplant Association and the Eurotransplant Liver Intestine Advisory Committee – 10 October 2011 – In Eurotransplant, more than 50% of liver allografts come from extended criteria donors (ECDs). However, not every ECD is the same. The limits of their use are being explored.

Tony Jourdan, Laurent Demizieux, Joseph Gresti, Louiza Djaouti, Lila Gaba, Bruno Vergès, Pascal Degrace – 10 October 2011 – It is well established that inactivation of the central endocannabinoid system (ECS) through antagonism of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) reduces food intake and improves several pathological features associated with obesity, such as dyslipidemia and liver steatosis. Nevertheless, recent data indicate that inactivation of peripheral CB1R could also be directly involved in the control of lipid metabolism independently of central CB1R.

Kazuaki Chayama, Shoichi Takahashi, Joji Toyota, Yoshiyasu Karino, Kenji Ikeda, Hiroki Ishikawa, Hideaki Watanabe, Fiona McPhee, Eric Hughes, Hiromitsu Kumada – 10 October 2011 – Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and previous null response to pegylated interferon (Peg‐IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) have limited therapeutic options. HCV genotype 1 is the most common worldwide and the most difficult to treat; genotype 1b is the most common subtype of genotype 1 outside North America.

Pramod Kadaba Srinivasan, Shintaro Yagi, Benedict Doorschodt, Kazuyuki Nagai, Mamdouh Afify, Shinji Uemoto, Rene Tolba – 10 October 2011 – The increasing shortage of donor organs has led to the increasing use of organs from non–heart‐beating donors. We aimed to assess the impact of venous systemic oxygen persufflation (VSOP) supplemented with nitric oxide (NO) gas during the cold storage (CS) of warm ischemia (WI)–damaged experimental liver grafts.