Michael R. Lucey – 12 May 2011 – Although alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is one of the most common indications for liver transplantation (LT), there are still unresolved controversies about the goals of treatment, the referral, evaluation, and selection of patients with ALD for LT, and their care after LT. It is uncertain whether there is a large unmet need for LT among patients with ALD because of the unmeasured effects of recent drinking, relapse, and recovery with abstinence in this population.

Rachel A. Lindor, Keith D. Lindor – 12 May 2011

Ji Zhang, Diane E. Handy, Yufang Wang, Guylaine Bouchard, Jacob Selhub, Joseph Loscalzo, Martin C. Carey – 12 May 2011 – Because hyperhomocysteinemia can occur in cholesterol gallstone disease, we hypothesized that this may result from trimethylation of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), which partakes in biliary phosphatidylcholine (PC) hypersecretion during cholesterol cholelithogenesis.

Annalisa Berzigotti, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Jaime Bosch, Norman D. Grace, Andrew K. Burroughs, Rosa Morillas, Angels Escorsell, Juan Carlos Garcia‐Pagan, David Patch, Daniel S. Matloff, Roberto J. Groszmann, the Portal Hypertension Collaborative Group – 12 May 2011 – Obesity is associated with an aggressive course in chronic viral hepatitis; however, its impact in the development of clinical decompensation (CD) in patients with established cirrhosis is uncertain.

Justin D. Ellett, Carl Atkinson, Zachary P. Evans, Zainab Amani, Edward Balish, Michael G. Schmidt, Rick G. Schnellmann, Kenneth D. Chavin – 11 May 2011 – Kupffer cells (KCs) have been shown to be critical mediators of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in the murine liver. Using liposomal clodronate (LC), we found that KCs were protective in models of total hepatic ischemia with bowel congestion. We investigated the role of toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the damage that occurs after I/R in KC‐depleted livers.

Pietro Invernizzi – 11 May 2011 – Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an autoimmune biliary disease characterized by injury of small and medium size bile ducts, eventually leading to liver cirrhosis and death. Although the causes remain enigmatic, recent evidence has strengthened the importance of genetic factors in determining the susceptibility to the disease.

Takumi Kawaguchi, Namiki Izumi, Michael R. Charlton, Michio Sata – 11 May 2011 – Branched‐chain amino acids (BCAAs) are a group of essential amino acids comprising valine, leucine, and isoleucine. A low ratio of plasma BCAAs to aromatic amino acids is a physiological hallmark of liver cirrhosis, and BCAA supplementation was originally devised with the intention of normalizing amino acid profiles and nutritional status.

Melissa J. Parsons, Douglas R. Green – 11 May 2011

Roeland Zoutendijk, Jurriën G. P. Reijnders, Ashley Brown, Fabien Zoulim, David Mutimer, Katja Deterding, Jörg Petersen, Wolf Peter Hofmann, Maria Buti, Teresa Santantonio, Florian van Bömmel, Pierre Pradat, Ye Oo, Marc Luetgehetmann, Thomas Berg, Bettina E. Hansen, Heiner Wedemeyer, Harry L. A. Janssen, for the VIRGIL Surveillance Study Group – 11 May 2011 – Entecavir (ETV) is a potent inhibitor of viral replication in nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA)‐naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.

Rosamond Rhodes, Sourabh Aggarwal, Thomas D. Schiano – 11 May 2011 – Liver transplantation (LT) programs encounter patients with fulminant hepatic failure resulting from suicide attempts involving acetaminophen or multidrug ingestion. Members of transplant teams often have different opinions about whether these patients should be offered transplantation. Disagreements can delay the transfer of these patients to a transplant facility and negatively affect their management.