Kim M. Olthoff, Laura Kulik, Benjamin Samstein, Mary Kaminski, Michael Abecassis, Jean Emond, Abraham Shaked, Jason D. Christie – 27 July 2010 – Translational studies in liver transplantation often require an endpoint of graft function or dysfunction beyond graft loss. Prior definitions of early allograft dysfunction (EAD) vary, and none have been validated in a large multicenter population in the Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) era. We examined an updated definition of EAD to validate previously used criteria, and correlated this definition with graft and patient outcome.

Guy Neff, Victoria Zacharias, Tiffany E. Kaiser, Amy Gaddis, Nyingi Kemmer – 27 July 2010 – Previous data have suggested that the nonsystemic antibiotic rifaximin may be effective for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). This single‐center retrospective study evaluated the efficacy of rifaximin for the treatment of CDI refractory to standard treatments in patients who had received liver transplants. Among 205 patients who had received liver transplants between July 2001 and December 2007, 3 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of C.

Kumaravelu Jagavelu, Chittaranjan Routray, Uday Shergill, Steven P. O'Hara, William Faubion, Vijay H. Shah – 23 July 2010 – Angiogenesis defines the growth of new blood vessels from preexisting vascular endothelial networks and corresponds to the wound healing process that is typified by the process of liver fibrosis. Liver fibrosis is also associated with increased endotoxin within the gut lumen and its associated portal circulation.

Christian D. Fingas, Boris R. A. Blechacz, Rory L. Smoot, Maria E. Guicciardi, Justin Mott, Steve F. Bronk, Nathan W. Werneburg, Alphonse E. Sirica, Gregory J. Gores – 23 July 2010

Carlos M. Rodríguez‐Ortigosa, Jesús M. Banales, Israel Olivas, Iker Uriarte, José J.G. Marín, Fernando J. Corrales, Juan F. Medina, Jesús Prieto – 23 July 2010 – Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) induces bicarbonate‐rich hypercholeresis by incompletely defined mechanisms that involve the stimulation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) release from cholangiocytes. As nitric oxide (NO) at a low concentration can stimulate a variety of secretory processes, we investigated whether this mediator could be implicated in the choleretic response to UDCA.

Yasuhiro Asahina, Kaoru Tsuchiya, Nobuharu Tamaki, Itsuko Hirayama, Tomohiro Tanaka, Mitsuaki Sato, Yutaka Yasui, Takanori Hosokawa, Ken Ueda, Teiji Kuzuya, Hiroyuki Nakanishi, Jun Itakura, Yuka Takahashi, Masayuki Kurosaki, Nobuyuki Enomoto, Namiki Izumi – 23 July 2010 – An increase in the aging population is an impending problem. A large cohort study was carried out to determine the influence of aging and other factors on hepatocarcinogenesis in patients treated with interferon. Biopsy‐proven 2547 chronic hepatitis C patients registered at our referral center since 1992 were included.

Laura Lagoudakis, Isabelle Garcin, Boris Julien, Kis Nahum, Dawidson A. Gomes, Laurent Combettes, Michael H. Nathanson, Thierry Tordjmann – 23 July 2010 – Liver regeneration is regulated by growth factors, cytokines, and other endocrine and metabolic factors. Calcium is important for cell division, but its role in liver regeneration is not known. The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of cytosolic calcium signals in liver growth after partial hepatectomy (PH).

Sujoy Maitra – 23 July 2010

Xiao Qi Wang, Weg M. Ongkeko, Lin Chen, Zhen Fan Yang, Ping Lu, Kwok Kin Chen, Jay P. Lopez, Ronnie T.P. Poon, Sheung Tat Fan – 23 July 2010 – Chemoresistance presents a major obstacle to the efficacy of chemotherapeutic treatment of cancers. Using chemotherapeutic drugs to select drug‐resistant cancer cells in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and several other cancer cell lines, we demonstrate that chemoresistant cells displayed cancer stem cell features, such as increased self‐renewal ability, cell motility, multiple drug resistance, and tumorigenicity.

Vassilis Triantis, Eirikur Saeland, Nora Bijl, Ronald P. Oude‐Elferink, Peter L. M. Jansen – 23 July 2010 – De novo bile acid synthesis in the liver needs to be tightly regulated in order to maintain optimal bile flow and prevent cholestasis. In the liver, fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) regulates bile acid synthesis by down‐regulating messenger RNA levels of cytochrome P450 7A1 (CYP7A1). FGF19 acts through fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4), and β‐Klotho has recently been recognized as a modulator of FGFR4 activity.