Polymerase γ Gene POLG determines the risk of sodium valproate‐induced liver toxicity

Joanna D. Stewart, Rita Horvath, Enrico Baruffini, Iliana Ferrero, Stefanie Bulst, Paul B. Watkins, Robert J. Fontana, Christopher P. Day, Patrick F. Chinnery – 29 October 2010 – Sodium valproate (VPA) is widely used throughout the world to treat epilepsy, migraine, chronic headache, bipolar disorder, and as adjuvant chemotherapy. VPA toxicity is an uncommon but potentially fatal cause of idiosyncratic liver injury. Rare mutations in POLG, which codes for the mitochondrial DNA polymerase γ (polγ), cause Alpers‐Huttenlocher syndrome (AHS).

Age dependence of oval cell responses and bile duct carcinomas in male fischer 344 rats fed a cyclic choline‐deficient, ethionine‐supplemented diet

Ian Guest, Zoran Ilic, Stewart Sell – 29 October 2010 – The age dependence of the oval cell response and bile duct carcinomas of male F344 rats exposed to a cyclic choline deficiency‐ethionine (CDE) diet (2 weeks on, 1 week off) supports the concept of loss of potential of liver stem cells to form cancers with aging. Livers of rats exposed at 3 weeks of age demonstrated a robust and widespread oval cell proliferation followed by cholangiofibrosis and bile duct metaplasia with extensive mucinous cysts throughout all lobes, and induction of cholangiocarcinomas (CCAs) in seven of eight rats.

Mutation analysis and characterization of alternative splice variants of the Wilson disease gene ATP7B

Lei Wan, Chang‐Hai Tsai, Chin‐Moo Hsu, Chin‐Chang Huang, Chih‐Chao Yang, Chiu‐Chu Liao, Chin‐Ching Wu, Yu‐An Hsu, Cheng‐Chun Lee, Su‐Ching Liu, Wei‐De Lin, Fuu‐Jen Tsai – 29 October 2010 – Wilson disease is a copper metabolism disorder caused by mutations in ATP7B, a copper‐transporting adenosine triphosphatase. A molecular diagnosis was performed on 135 patients with Wilson disease in Taiwan.

Visceral adiposity index is associated with histological findings and high viral load in patients with chronic hepatitis C due to genotype 1

Salvatore Petta, Marco Amato, Daniela Cabibi, Calogero Cammà, Vito Di Marco, Carla Giordano, Aldo Galluzzo, Antonio Craxì – 29 October 2010 – Metabolic factors have been associated with liver damage in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C (G1 CHC). We tested visceral adiposity index (VAI), a new marker of adipose dysfunction in G1 CHC, patients to assess its association with host and viral factors and its link to both histological findings and sustained virological response (SVR).

Differences in portal hemodynamics between whole liver transplantation and living donor liver transplantation

Shui‐Ming Jiang, Qi‐Shun Zhang, Guang‐Wen Zhou, Shi‐Feng Huang, Hai‐Ming Lu, Cheng‐Hong Peng – 28 October 2010 – The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in portal hemodynamics between whole liver transplantation and living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Twenty patients who underwent LDLT (the L group) and 42 patients who underwent whole liver transplantation (the W group) were enrolled, and colored Doppler ultrasonography was performed preoperatively and on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 3, 5, 7, 30, and 90.

Inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase prevents graft injury after transplantation of livers from rats after cardiac death

Yanjun Shi, Hasibur Rehman, Gary L. Wright, Zhi Zhong – 28 October 2010 – This study investigated the roles of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the failure of rat liver grafts from cardiac death donors (GCDD). Livers were explanted after 30‐minute aorta clamping and implanted after 4‐hour storage in University of Wisconsin solution. The iNOS expression increased slightly in grafts from non–cardiac death donors (GNCDD) but markedly in GCDD.

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