Jan Stange, Melanie Stiffel, Anne Goetze, Sabrina Strube, Juliane Gruenert, Sebastian Klammt, Steffen Mitzner, Sebastian Koball, Stefan Liebe, Emil Reisinger – 13 December 2010 – Liver failure is associated with an accumulation of toxic molecules that exert an affinity to albumin. Some of them have vasoactive activity. So far, albumin has been used as a plasma expander to improve the available circulating blood volume. However, recent studies have suggested that albumin is more effective than starch for this indication.

Elizabeth M. Brunt, David E. Kleiner, Laura A. Wilson, Patricia Belt, Brent A. Neuschwander‐Tetri, for the NASH Clinical Research Network (CRN) – 13 December 2010 – The diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is defined by the presence and pattern of specific histological abnormalities on liver biopsy. A separate system of scoring the features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) called the NAFLD Activity Score (NAS) was developed as a tool to measure changes in NAFLD during therapeutic trials.

Dominique Thabut, Richard Moreau, Didier Lebrec – 13 December 2010 – Severe portal hypertension is responsible for complications and death. Although measurement of the hepatic venous pressure gradient is the most accurate method for evaluating the presence and severity of portal hypertension, this technique is considered invasive and is not routinely performed in all centers. Several noninvasive techniques have been proposed to measure portal hypertension.

Tetsuji Yoneyama, Katsuhiro Asonuma, Hideaki Okajima, Kwang‐Jong Lee, Hidekazu Yamamoto, Takayuki Takeichi, Yoshiharu Nakayama, Yukihiro Inomata – 13 December 2010 – In the clinical setting of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), it is common to find a discrepancy between the graft volume estimated by preoperative computed tomography volumetry and the actual graft weight (AGW) measured on the back‐table. In this study, we attempt to find the coefficient factor that correlates the estimated graft volume to the AGW.

Vivek Shukla, Cyrille Cuenin, Nileshkumar Dubey, Zdenko Herceg – 13 December 2010 – Organ regeneration after toxin challenge or physical injury requires a prompt and balanced cell‐proliferative response; a well‐orchestrated cascade of gene expression is needed to regulate transcription factors and proteins involved in cell cycle progression and cell proliferation.

Elsa Solà, Sabela Lens, Mónica Guevara, Pere Ginès – 9 December 2010

Tim O. Lankisch, Jochen Metzger, Ahmed A. Negm, Katja Voβkuhl, Eric Schiffer, Justyna Siwy, Tobias J. Weismüller, Andrea S. Schneider, Kathrin Thedieck, Ralf Baumeister, Petra Zürbig, Eva M. Weissinger, Michael P. Manns, Harald Mischak, Jochen Wedemeyer – 7 December 2010 – Early detection of malignant biliary tract diseases, especially cholangiocarcinoma (CC) in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), is very difficult and often comes too late to give the patient a therapeutic benefit. We hypothesize that bile proteomic analysis distinguishes CC from nonmalignant lesions.

Isabel Gómez‐Hurtado, Pedro Zapater, Pablo Bellot, Sonia Pascual, Miguel Pérez‐Mateo, José Such, Rubén Francés – 7 December 2010 – Patients with cirrhosis receiving norfloxacin show a restored inflammatory balance that likely prevents clinical complications derived from an excessive proinflammatory response to bacterial product challenges. This study sought to investigate associated inflammatory control mechanisms established in patients with cirrhosis receiving norfloxacin. A total of 62 patients with cirrhosis and ascites in different clinical conditions were considered.

Soo Han Bae, Su Haeng Sung, Eun Jung Cho, Se Kyoung Lee, Hye Eun Lee, Hyun Ae Woo, Dae‐Yeul Yu, In Sup Kil, Sue Goo Rhee – 7 December 2010 – Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are peroxidases that catalyze the reduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The active site cysteine residue of members of the 2‐Cys Prx subgroup (Prx I to IV) of Prxs is hyperoxidized to cysteine sulfinic acid (Cys‐SO2) during catalysis with concomitant loss of peroxidase activity. Reactivation of the hyperoxidized Prx is catalyzed by sulfiredoxin (Srx).

Hui Yang, Qi Zhan, Yu‐Jui Yvonne Wan – 7 December 2010 – The synthetic retinoid fenretinide is one of the most promising clinically tested retinoids. Previously, we have shown that fenretinide induces apoptosis of Huh7 cells, but HepG2 cells are relatively resistant to fenretinide‐induced apoptosis. This study examines the interactive role of fenretinide and histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) in inducing apoptosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and the underlying mechanism.