Diana Joka, Kristin Wahl, Sarah Moeller, Jerome Schlue, Bernhard Vaske, Matthias J. Bahr, Michael P. Manns, Klaus Schulze‐Osthoff, Heike Bantel – 12 October 2011 – Fibrosis and steatosis are major histopathological alterations in chronic liver diseases. Despite various shortcomings, disease severity is generally determined by liver biopsy, emphasizing the need for simple noninvasive methods for assessing disease activity.

Diarmaid D. Houlihan, Laurence J. Hopkins, Shankar X. Suresh, Matthew J. Armstrong, Philip N. Newsome – 10 October 2011

Carlo Spirli, Luigi Locatelli, Romina Fiorotto, Carola M. Morell, Luca Fabris, Tullio Pozzan, Mario Strazzabosco – 10 October 2011 – Mutations in polycystins (PC1 or PC2/TRPP2) cause progressive polycystic liver disease (PLD). In PC2‐defective mice, cyclic 3′,5′‐adenosine monophosphate/ protein kinase A (cAMP/PKA)‐dependent activation of extracellular signal‐regulated kinase/ mammalian target of rapamycin (ERK‐mTOR) signaling stimulates cyst growth.

Doan Y. Dao, Linda S. Hynan, He‐Jun Yuan, Corron Sanders, Jody Balko, Nahid Attar, Anna S.F. Lok, R. Ann Word, William M. Lee, the Acute Liver Failure Study Group – 10 October 2011 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐related acute liver failure (HBV‐ALF) may occur after acute HBV infection (AHBV‐ALF) or during an exacerbation of chronic HBV infection (CHBV‐ALF). Clinical differentiation of the two is often difficult if a previous history of HBV is not available.

Kiran Bambha, Patricia Belt, Maria Abraham, Laura A. Wilson, Mark Pabst, Linda Ferrell, Aynur Unalp‐Arida, Nathan Bass, for the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network Research Group – 10 October 2011 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disorder in the United States; however, few data are available about racial and ethnic variation. We investigated relationships between ethnicity, NAFLD severity, metabolic derangements, and sociodemographic characteristics in a well‐characterized cohort of adults with biopsy‐proven NAFLD.

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.