Philip J. Starkey Lewis, James Dear, Vivien Platt, Kenneth J. Simpson, Darren G.N. Craig, Daniel J. Antoine, Neil S. French, Neeraj Dhaun, David J. Webb, Eithne M. Costello, John P. Neoptolemos, Jonathan Moggs, Chris E. Goldring, B. Kevin Park – 11 July 2011 – New biomarkers of liver injury are required in the clinic and in preclinical pharmaceutical evaluation. Previous studies demonstrate that two liver‐enriched microRNAs (miR‐122 and miR‐192) are promising biomarkers of acetaminophen‐induced acute liver injury (APAP‐ALI) in mice.

Anna Baghdasaryan, Thierry Claudel, Judith Gumhold, Dagmar Silbert, Luciano Adorini, Aldo Roda, Stefania Vecchiotti, Frank J. Gonzalez, Kristina Schoonjans, Mario Strazzabosco, Peter Fickert, Michael Trauner – 11 July 2011 – Chronic cholangiopathies have limited therapeutic options and represent an important indication for liver transplantation. The nuclear farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and the membrane G protein‐coupled receptor, TGR5, regulate bile acid (BA) homeostasis and inflammation.

Jay A. Fishman – 11 July 2011 – Key Points

Liang Li, Lei Chen, Liang Hu, Yuan Liu, Han‐Yong Sun, Jing Tang, Yu‐Jie Hou, Yan‐Xin Chang, Qian‐Qian Tu, Gen‐Sheng Feng, Feng Shen, Meng‐Chao Wu, Hong‐Yang Wang – 11 July 2011 – One of the challenges surrounding nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is to discover the mechanisms that underlie the initiation of it. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the effects of Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling in liver parenchymal cells during the early stage of NAFLD.

Emma A. Kruglov, Samir Gautam, Mateus T. Guerra, Michael H. Nathanson – 11 July 2011 – Bile salt secretion is mediated primarily by the bile salt export pump (Bsep), a transporter on the canalicular membrane of the hepatocyte. However, little is known about the short‐term regulation of Bsep activity. Ca2+ regulates targeting and insertion of transporters in many cell systems, and Ca2+ release near the canalicular membrane is mediated by the type II inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate receptor (InsP3R2), so we investigated the possible role of InsP3R2 in modulating Bsep activity.

K. Raj Prasad, Richard S. Young, Patrizia Burra, Shu‐Sen Zheng, Vincenzo Mazzaferro, Duk Bog Moon, Richard B. Freeman – 11 July 2011

Ian Webzell, David Ball, James Bell, Roy A. Sherwood, Andrew Marsh, John G. O'Grady, Nigel D. Heaton – 8 July 2011 – Toxicological urinalysis is a highly sensitive and specific test that detects recent substance use. It has been established for substance misuse treatment but has not been routinely used at liver transplantation (LT) centers. Patients with a history of substance misuse are required to be abstinent from alcohol and illicit drugs before they are listed for LT.

Hsin‐Yun Sun, Thomas V. Cacciarelli, Marilyn M. Wagener, Nina Singh – 8 July 2011 – Whether the duration of renal replacement therapy (RRT) after liver transplantation influences the rate and types of bacterial infections is not known. In this study, 47 of 299 consecutive liver transplant recipients (16%) required posttransplant RRT. The incidence of bacterial infections was higher in the RRT group versus the non‐RRT group (8.84 versus 1.38 per 1000 patient days, P < 0.001).

Beat Müllhaupt, Francois Durand, Tanja Roskams, Philipp Dutkowski, Markus Heim – 8 July 2011

Seth A. Waits, Brandon M. Wojcik, Shijie Cai, Amit K. Mathur, Michael J. Englesbe – 8 July 2011 – The effect of occlusive portal vein thrombosis (PVT) on the mortality of pediatric liver transplant candidates and recipients is poorly defined. Using standard multivariate techniques, we studied the relationship between PVT and waiting‐list and posttransplant survival rates with data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (September 2001 to December 2007). In all, 5087 liver transplant candidates and 3630 liver transplant recipients were evaluated during the period.