Antonella Pellicoro, Rebecca L. Aucott, Prakash Ramachandran, Andrew J. Robson, Jonathan A. Fallowfield, Victoria K. Snowdon, Stephen N. Hartland, Madeleine Vernon, Jeremy S. Duffield, R. Christopher Benyon, Stuart J. Forbes, John P. Iredale – 27 December 2011 – Elastin has been linked to maturity of liver fibrosis. To date, the regulation of elastin secretion and its degradation in liver fibrosis has not been characterized. The aim of this work was to define elastin accumulation and the role of the paradigm elastase macrophage metalloelastase (MMP‐12) in its turnover during fibrosis.

William M. Lee, R. Todd Stravitz, Anne M. Larson – 27 December 2011

Qiang Chen, Wenjiao Li, Yunyan Wan, Xiaochun Xia, Qiao Wu, Yanling Chen, Zhide Lai, Chundong Yu, Wengang Li – 27 December 2011 – Transcriptional coactivator amplified in breast cancer 1 (AIB1) plays important roles in the progression of several cancers such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, its role in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a chemoresistant bile duct carcinoma with a poor prognosis, remains unclear. In this study we found that AIB1 protein was frequently overexpressed in human CCA specimens and CCA cell lines.

James L. Boyer, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Roberto J. Groszmann – 27 December 2011

Jun‐Xiang Zhang, Da‐Qiang Li, Aiwu Ruth He, Mona Motwani, Vasilis Vasiliou, Jeyanthy Eswaran, Lopa Mishra, Rakesh Kumar – 27 December 2011 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a particularly lethal form of cancer, yet effective therapeutic options for advanced HCC are limited. The poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerases (PARPs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) are emerging to be among the most promising targets in cancer therapy, and sensitivity to PARP inhibition depends on homologous recombination (HR) deficiency and inhibition of HDAC activity blocks the HR pathway.

Brian L. Pearlman, Carole Ehleben – 27 December 2011

Ruiqun Qi, Matthew Weiland, Xing‐Hua Gao, Li Zhou, Qing‐Sheng Mi – 27 December 2011

Liangliang Xu, Wenguang Yin, Jianhong Xia, Meixiu Peng, Song Li, Shuo Lin, Duanqing Pei, Xiaodong Shu – 27 December 2011

Germán Soriano, Eva Román, Joan Córdoba, Maria Torrens, Maria Poca, Xavier Torras, Càndid Villanueva, Ignasi J. Gich, Víctor Vargas, Carlos Guarner – 27 December 2011 – Falls are frequent among patients with debilitating disorders and can have a serious effect on health status. Mild cognitive disturbances associated with cirrhosis may increase the risk for falls. Identifying subjects at risk may allow the implementation of preventive measures. Our aim was to assess the predictive value of the Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) in identifying patients likely to sustain falls.

Maxine M. Denniston, R. Monina Klevens, Geraldine M. McQuillan, Ruth B. Jiles – 27 December 2011 – Many persons infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are unknown to the healthcare system because they may be asymptomatic for years, have not been tested for HCV infection, and only seek medical care when they develop liver‐related complications. We analyzed data from persons who tested positive for past or current HCV infection during participation in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 through 2008.