Ping Zhou, Nataly Lessa, Daniel C. Estrada, Ella B. Severson, Shilpa Lingala, Mark A. Zern, Jan A. Nolta, Jian Wu – 14 January 2011 – The transplantation of primary hepatocytes has been shown to augment the function of damaged livers and to bridge patients to liver transplantation. However, primary hepatocytes often have low levels of engraftment and survive for only a short time after transplantation. To explore the potential benefits of using decellularized liver matrix (DLM) as a carrier for hepatocyte transplantation, DLM from whole mouse livers was generated.

Alexandra Zahn, Nadja Schott, Ulf Hinz, Wolfgang Stremmel, Jan Schmidt, Tom Ganten, Daniel Gotthardt, Stefan Meuer, Martin Zeier, Thomas Giese, Claudia Sommerer – 14 January 2011 – Long‐term calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) treatment can cause serious side effects in liver allograft recipients. An optimal risk‐to‐benefit ratio for CNI blood levels has not been established. Pharmacodynamic drug monitoring through the measurement of the CNI biological activity, that is, the expression of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT)–regulated genes, seems to be a promising approach.

Geoffrey W. McCaughan, Nicholas A. Shackel, David G. Bowen – 14 January 2011

Sammy Saab, Hillary Bownik, Noel Ayoub, Zobair Younossi, Francisco Durazo, Steven Han, Johnny C. Hong, Douglas Farmer, Ronald W. Busuttil – 14 January 2011 – One of the current ultimate goals of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the improvement of patients' health‐related quality of life (HRQOL). The purpose of this study was to look at the effects of socioeconomic and demographic differences on the short‐term and long‐term HRQOL outcomes of OLT recipients.

Flavio Paterno, Adeel Khan, Keith Cavaness, Massimo Asolati, Jeffrey Campsen, Greg J. McKenna, Nicholas Onaca, Richard Ruiz, James Trotter, Goran B. Klintmalm – 14 January 2011

Sammy Saab, Vivian Ng, Carmen Landaverde, Sung‐Jae Lee, W. Scott Comulada, Jennifer Arevalo, Francisco Durazo, Steven‐Huy Han, Zobari Younossi, Ronald W. Busuttil – 14 January 2011 – Currently, no disease‐targeted instrument is available for measuring health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) in liver transplant recipients. We developed and tested a post–liver transplant quality of life (pLTQ) instrument. Item selection for the pLTQ instrument was based on responses from liver transplant recipients, 12 liver experts, and a literature search.

Richard B. Freeman – 14 January 2011

Josh Levitsky – 14 January 2011 – Every liver transplant (LT) center has had patients who either self‐discontinue immunosuppressive (IS) therapy or are deliberately withdrawn due to a research protocol or clinical concern (ie, lymphoproliferative disorder [LPD], overwhelming infection). This is understandable because maintenance IS therapy, particularly calcineurin inhibitors (CNI), is associated with significant cost, side effects, and considerable long‐term morbidity and mortality.

Robert M. Weinrieb, Deborah H.A. Van Horn, Kevin G. Lynch, Michael R. Lucey – 14 January 2011 – Alcohol is the second most common cause of cirrhosis necessitating liver transplantation in the United States, yet rates of posttransplant drinking approach 50% and no controlled clinical trials of alcoholism treatment exist in this population. Eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), or referral to local treatment sources (“treatment as usual” [TAU]). Addictive behavior, mood states, and general health were compared.

Aleksander Krag, Flemming Bendtsen, Søren Møller – 12 January 2011