Jayant S. Kalpoe, Edith Sonnenberg, Stephanie H. Factor, Juan del Rio Martin, Thomas Schiano, Gopi Patel, Shirish Huprikar – 4 January 2012 – Resistant bacterial infections are important causes of morbidity and mortality after liver transplantation (LT). This was a retrospective cohort study evaluating the outcomes associated with carbapenem‐resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) infections after LT. In a 2005‐2006 cohort of 175 consecutive LT recipients, 91 infection episodes were observed in 61 patients (35%). The mortality rate 1 year after LT was 18% (32/175).

Elizabeth C. Verna, Rosa Valadao, Erica Farrand, Elsa M. Pichardo, Jennifer C. Lai, Norah A. Terrault, Robert S. Brown – 4 January 2012 – The ethnicity and socioeconomic status of the host may affect the progression of hepatitis C virus (HCV). We aimed to compare survival and fibrosis progression in Hispanic white (HW) and non‐Hispanic white (NHW) recipients of liver transplantation (LT) with HCV. All HW and NHW patients with HCV who underwent transplantation between January 2000 and December 2007 at 2 centers were retrospectively assessed.

Nicholas A. Shackel – 4 January 2012

Roberto I. Troisi, Mauricio Sainz‐Barriga – 4 January 2012

Qiuwei Pan, Petra E. de Ruiter, Herold J. Metselaar, Jaap Kwekkeboom, Jeroen de Jonge, Hugo W. Tilanus, Harry L.A. Janssen, Luc J.W. van der Laan – 27 December 2011 – Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is a highly effective immunosuppressant that has broad antiviral activity against different viruses and can act in synergy with interferon‐α (IFN‐α) on hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication. MPA is a potent inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) inhibitor but the antiviral mechanisms are less understood.

Cynthia D. Guy, Ayako Suzuki, Marzena Zdanowicz, Manal F. Abdelmalek, James Burchette, Aynur Unalp, Anna Mae Diehl, for the NASH CRN – 27 December 2011 – The Hedgehog (HH)‐signaling pathway mediates several processes that are deregulated in patients with metabolic syndrome (e.g., fat mass regulation, vascular/endothelial remodeling, liver injury and repair, and carcinogenesis). The severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and metabolic syndrome generally correlate.

Antonella Pellicoro, Rebecca L. Aucott, Prakash Ramachandran, Andrew J. Robson, Jonathan A. Fallowfield, Victoria K. Snowdon, Stephen N. Hartland, Madeleine Vernon, Jeremy S. Duffield, R. Christopher Benyon, Stuart J. Forbes, John P. Iredale – 27 December 2011 – Elastin has been linked to maturity of liver fibrosis. To date, the regulation of elastin secretion and its degradation in liver fibrosis has not been characterized. The aim of this work was to define elastin accumulation and the role of the paradigm elastase macrophage metalloelastase (MMP‐12) in its turnover during fibrosis.

William M. Lee, R. Todd Stravitz, Anne M. Larson – 27 December 2011

Qiang Chen, Wenjiao Li, Yunyan Wan, Xiaochun Xia, Qiao Wu, Yanling Chen, Zhide Lai, Chundong Yu, Wengang Li – 27 December 2011 – Transcriptional coactivator amplified in breast cancer 1 (AIB1) plays important roles in the progression of several cancers such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, its role in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a chemoresistant bile duct carcinoma with a poor prognosis, remains unclear. In this study we found that AIB1 protein was frequently overexpressed in human CCA specimens and CCA cell lines.

James L. Boyer, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Roberto J. Groszmann – 27 December 2011