Sandra Beinhardt, Albert F. Staettermayer, Karoline Rutter, Judith Maresch, Thomas M. Scherzer, Petra Steindl‐Munda, Harald Hofer, Peter Ferenci – 19 September 2011 – Pegylated interferon‐alpha2/ribavirin (peg‐IFN/RBV) is the standard of care (SOC) for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. Currently, direct‐acting antiviral agents (DAAs) are evaluated in clinical trials. The aim of this study was to compare baseline characteristics and sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in patients included in clinical trials to those receiving SOC.

Andrew King, Dhiraj Tripathi – 19 September 2011

Carlos Gomez‐Martin, Javier Bustamante, Javier F. Castroagudin, Magdalena Salcedo, Elena Garralda, Milagros Testillano, Ignacio Herrero, Ana Matilla, Bruno Sangro – 19 September 2011 – There is currently no consensus on the most suitable treatment for the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver transplantation. This open, multicenter, retrospective, uncontrolled cohort study was designed to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of the combined use of a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor and sorafenib in this setting.

Carla Venturi, Javier Bueno, Lluís Castells, Jesus Quintero, Isabel Casas, Helena Allende, Vicente Martinez‐Ibañez, Ramón Charco – 19 September 2011 – The outcomes and characterization of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections after pediatric liver transplantation (LT) have rarely been reported. We describe our experience with HCV infections after pediatric LT. Ten of 207 children (4.8%) who underwent LT at our institution (1985‐2010) developed previously undiagnosed HCV disease. Eight received a liver graft before blood product and donor screening for HCV became available.

Stella De Nicola, Alessio Aghemo, Maria Grazia Rumi, Enrico Galmozzi, Luca Valenti, Roberta Soffredini, Raffaele De Francesco, Gian Maria Prati, Roberta D'Ambrosio, Cristina Cheroni, Maria Francesca Donato, Massimo Colombo – 19 September 2011 – Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the interleukin 28B (IL28B) region are the strongest baseline predictors of a sustained virologic response (SVR) to peg‐interferon (PegIFN) and ribavirin (Rbv) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection. Whether this holds true for HCV‐4 patients too is unknown.

Aijaz Ahmed, Carlos O. Esquivel – 19 September 2011

Elaine Studer, Xiqiao Zhou, Renping Zhao, Yun Wang, Kazuaki Takabe, Masayuki Nagahashi, William M. Pandak, Paul Dent, Sarah Spiegel, Ruihua Shi, Weiren Xu, Xuyuan Liu, Pat Bohdan, Luyong Zhang, Huiping Zhou, Phillip B. Hylemon – 19 September 2011 – Bile acids have been shown to be important regulatory molecules for cells in the liver and gastrointestinal tract. They can activate various cell signaling pathways including extracellular regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and protein kinase B (AKT) as well as the G‐protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) membrane‐type bile acid receptor (TGR5/M‐BAR).

Anita Afzali, Kristin Berry, George N. Ioannou – 19 September 2011 – Because of the ongoing epidemics of obesity and diabetes, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) may become a leading indication for liver transplantation. There are concerns about the posttransplant survival of patients with NASH because of associated cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors. We aimed to determine recent trends in the proportion of patients undergoing transplantation for NASH‐related cirrhosis in the United States and to estimate their posttransplant survival.

Tohti Amet, Marwan Ghabril, Naga Chalasani, Daniel Byrd, Ningjie Hu, Ayslinn Grantham, Ziqing Liu, Xuebin Qin, Johnny J. He, Qigui Yu – 19 September 2011 – Several enveloped viruses including human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1), cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV‐1), Ebola virus, vaccinia virus, and influenza virus have been found to incorporate host regulators of complement activation (RCA) into their viral envelopes and, as a result, escape antibody‐dependent complement‐mediated lysis (ADCML).

Michael L. Volk, Rachel S. Tocco, Shawn J. Pelletier, Brian J. Zikmund‐Fisher, Anna S. F. Lok – 19 September 2011 – It is challenging to discuss the use of high‐risk organs with patients, in part because of the lack of information about how patients view this topic. This study was designed to determine how patients think about organ quality and to test formats for risk communication. Semistructured interviews of 10 patients on the waiting list revealed limited understanding about the spectrum of organ quality and a reluctance to consider anything but the best organs.