Miroslaw Kornek, Yury Popov, Towia A. Libermann, Nezam H. Afdhal, Detlef Schuppan – 20 September 2010 – Microparticles (MPs) are small cell membrane vesicles that are released from cells during apoptosis or activation. Although circulating platelet MPs have been studied in some detail, the existence and functional role of T cell MPs remain elusive. We show that blood from patients with active hepatitis C (alanine aminotransferase [ALT] level >100 IU/mL) contains elevated numbers of T cell MPs compared with patients with mild hepatitis C (ALT <40 IU/mL) and healthy controls.

Marco Antonio Montes‐Cano, José Raúl García‐Lozano, Cristina Abad‐Molina, Manuel Romero‐Gómez, Natalia Barroso, José Aguilar‐Reina, Antonio Núñez‐Roldán, María Francisca González‐Escribano – 17 September 2010

Zixue Jin, Rui Sun, Haiming Wei, Xiang Gao, Yongyan Chen, Zhigang Tian – 14 September 2010 – The immunopathogenic process from hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection to liver fibrosis is incompletely understood because it lacks an animal model. In this study we observed the development of liver fibrosis in HBV transgenic (HBV‐tg) mice and found the roles of natural killer T (NKT) cells in HBV‐related liver fibrosis.

Jayant A. Talwalkar – 14 September 2010

Nancy Díaz‐Valdés, Lorea Manterola, Virginia Belsúe, José I. Riezu‐Boj, Esther Larrea, Itziar Echeverria, Diana Llópiz, Jacinto López‐Sagaseta, Hervé Lerat, Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky, Jesús Prieto, Juan J. Lasarte, Francisco Borrás‐Cuesta, Pablo Sarobe – 14 September 2010 – The high levels of interleukin 10 (IL‐10) present in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have been suggested as responsible for the poor antiviral cellular immune responses found in these patients.

Iván L. Csanaky, Hong Lu, Youcai Zhang, Kenichiro Ogura, Supratim Choudhuri, Curtis D. Klaassen – 14 September 2010 – The organic anion–transporting polypeptide 1b family (Oatp1b2 in rodents and OATP1B1/1B3 in humans) is liver‐specific and transports various chemicals into the liver. However, the role of the Oatp1b family in the hepatic uptake of bile acids (BAs) into the liver is unknown. Therefore, in Oatp1b2‐null mice, the concentrations of BAs in plasma, liver, and bile were compared with wild‐type (WT) mice.

Emmanuel Thomas, Jordan J. Feld, Qisheng Li, Zongyi Hu, Michael W. Fried, T. Jake Liang – 14 September 2010 – The combination of pegylated interferon (PEG‐IFN) and ribavirin is the standard treatment for chronic hepatitis C. Our recent clinical study suggests that ribavirin augments the induction of interferon‐stimulated genes (ISGs) in patients treated for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In order to further characterize the mechanisms of action of ribavirin, we examined the effect of ribavirin treatment on ISG induction in cell culture.

Juliette Martin, Pamela Romanque, Olivier Maurhofer, Karin Schmitter, Caroline Hora, Gisèle Ferrand, Jean‐François Dufour – 10 September 2010 – The identification of cellular pathways capable of limiting ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury remains a frontier in medicine, and its clinical relevance is urgent. Histidine triad nucleotide binding protein 1 (HINT1) is a tumor suppressor that influences apoptosis. Because apoptotic pathways are a feature of I/R injury, we asked whether Hint1 influences hepatic I/R injury.

Ming‐Lung Yu, Chung‐Feng Huang, Jee‐Fu Huang, Ning‐Chia Chang, Jeng‐Fu Yang, Zu‐Yau Lin, Shinn‐Cherng Chen, Ming‐Yuh Hsieh, Liang‐Yen Wang, Wen‐Yu Chang, Yi‐Ning Li, Mei‐Shin Wu, Chia‐Yen Dai, Suh‐Hang Hank Juo, Wan‐Long Chuang – 10 September 2010 – Genome‐wide association studies have linked single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the interleukin‐28B gene to the hepatitis C virus genotype 1 (HCV‐1) response to peginterferon/ribavirin treatment. We aimed to explore the impact on the treatment outcomes of Asian HCV‐2 patients.

Sepideh Akhavan, Christophe Ronsin, Syria Laperche, Vincent Thibault – 10 September 2010