Gianfranco Alpini, Antonio Franchitto, Sharon DeMorrow, Paolo Onori, Eugenio Gaudio, Candace Wise, Heather Francis, Julie Venter, Shelley Kopriva, Romina Mancinelli, Guido Carpino, Franco Stagnitti, Yoshiyuki Ueno, Yuyan Han, Fanyin Meng, Shannon Glaser – 18 October 2010 – Small cholangiocytes proliferate via activation of calcium (Ca2+)‐dependent signaling in response to pathological conditions that trigger the damage of large cyclic adenosine monophosphate–dependent cholangiocytes.

Vlad Ratziu, Stephen Caldwell, Brent A. Neuschwander‐Tetri – 18 October 2010 – Insulin sensitizers are attractive candidate therapies for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis mainly because of the strong association between this disease and insulin resistance. This review provides a critical overview of the mechanisms of action, clinical trial results, and safety issues of metformin and glitazones in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. It also highlights methodological challenges for trial design and proposes endpoints for future proof of principle, registrational, and postmarketing trials.

Maria Serena Longhi, Munther J. Hussain, William W. Kwok, Giorgina Mieli‐Vergani, Yun Ma, Diego Vergani – 18 October 2010 – Effector CD4 and CD8 T cell immune responses to cytochrome P450IID6 (CYP2D6), the autoantigen of autoimmune hepatitis type 2 (AIH‐2), are permitted by a numerical and functional impairment of CD4posCD25high regulatory T cells (T‐regs).

Amy Dhirapong, Ana Lleo, Guo‐Xiang Yang, Koichi Tsuneyama, Robert Dunn, Marilyn Kehry, Thomas A. Packard, John C. Cambier, Fu‐Tong Liu, Keith Lindor, Ross L. Coppel, Aftab A. Ansari, M. Eric Gershwin – 18 October 2010 – Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is considered a model autoimmune disease due to the clinical homogeneity of patients and the classic hallmark of antimitochondrial antibodies (AMAs). Indeed, the presence of AMAs represents the most highly directed and specific autoantibody in autoimmune diseases. However, the contribution of B cells to the pathogenesis of PBC is unclear.

Shashikiran Donthamsetty, Vishakha S. Bhave, Corrine S. Kliment, William C. Bowen, Wendy M. Mars, Aaron W. Bell, Rachel E. Stewart, Anne Orr, Chuanyue Wu, George K. Michalopoulos – 18 October 2010 – TCBOPOP (1,4‐bis [2‐(3,5‐dichaloropyridyloxy)] benzene) an agonist of the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), produces rapid hepatocyte hyperplasia and hepatomegaly in the absence of hepatic injury.

Eva Török, Marc Lutgehetmann, Jeanette Bierwolf, Stefan Melbeck, Jochen Düllmann, Bjoern Nashan, Peter X. Ma, Joerg M. Pollok – 11 October 2010 – Liver transplantation is an established treatment for acute and chronic liver disease. However, because of the shortage of donor organs, it does not fulfill the needs of all patients. Hepatocyte transplantation is promising as an alternative method for the treatment of end‐stage liver disease and as bridging therapy until liver transplantation. Our group has been working on the optimization of matrix‐based hepatocyte transplantation.

Rita Garcia‐Martinez, Alex Rovira, Juli Alonso, Carlos Jacas, Macarena Simón‐Talero, Laia Chavarria, Víctor Vargas, Juan Córdoba – 11 October 2010 – Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a common complication of cirrhosis that is associated with brain atrophy and may participate in impaired cognitive function after liver transplantation. This study analyzes the relationship of HE with cognitive function and brain volume after transplantation.

Albert Parés, Llorenç Caballería – 11 October 2010

Ido Laish, Marius Braun, Eytan Mor, Jaqueline Sulkes, Yael Harif, Ziv Ben Ari – 11 October 2010 – Features of metabolic syndrome are not uncommon in patients after liver transplantation. To examine the prevalence and risk factors of posttransplantation metabolic syndrome (PTMS), the files of 252 transplant recipients (mean age, 54.5 ± 2.8 years, 57.9% male) were reviewed for pretransplant and posttransplant clinical and laboratory parameters (mean follow‐up, 6.2 ± 4.4 years).

Rehana Begum, Denise Harnois, Raj Satyanarayana, Murli Krishna, Kevin C. Halling, George P. Kim, Justin H. Nguyen, Andrew P. Keaveny – 11 October 2010 – Although tumor transmission through liver transplantation (LT) is a rare occurrence, the consequences can be devastating, even when a very aggressive management approach is adopted. We report the case of a donor‐derived small cell neuroendocrine tumor (NET) in a patient who underwent LT for cholangiocarcinoma. Despite locoregional therapy, chemotherapy and ultimately retransplantation, the patient died from metastases.