Serge J.L.B. Zweers, Klaske A.C. Booij, Mina Komuta, Tania Roskams, Dirk J. Gouma, Peter L.M. Jansen, Frank G. Schaap – 27 September 2011 – Fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) plays a crucial role in the negative feedback regulation of bile salt synthesis. In the postprandial state, activation of ileal farnesoid X receptor (FXR) by bile salts results in transcriptional induction of FGF19 and elevation of circulating FGF19 levels. An intestinal‐liver axis of FGF19 signaling results in down‐regulation of bile salt synthesis.

Sean F. Altekruse, Katherine A. McGlynn, Lois A. Dickie, David E. Kleiner – 27 September 2011 – Approaches to the diagnosis and management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are improving survival. In the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results‐13 registries, HCC stage, histological confirmation, and first‐course surgery were examined. Among 21,390 HCC cases diagnosed with follow‐up of vital status during 1998‐2008, there were 4,727 (22%) with reported first‐course invasive liver surgery, local tumor destruction, or both.

Pietro Majno, Riccardo Lencioni, Françoise Mornex, Nicolas Girard, Ronnie T. Poon, Daniel Cherqui – 26 September 2011

Pere Ginès – 19 September 2011

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.

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).

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.

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).

Aijaz Ahmed, Carlos O. Esquivel – 19 September 2011

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.