Reply: Ferritin and Liver Allocation? Impact on Mortality Not Only on the Waiting List But Also After Orthotopic Liver Transplantation Should Be Considered
Darrell H. G. Crawford, Linda M. Fletcher, Katherine A. Stuart – 23 June 2010
Theophylline improves steroid sensitivity in acute alcoholic hepatitis
Stuart F. W. Kendrick, Elsbeth Henderson, Jeremy Palmer, David E. J. Jones, Chris P. Day – 23 June 2010 – Corticosteroid therapy has shown some benefit in severe acute alcoholic hepatitis (AAH); however, this is limited by uncertainty in patient selection and variable clinical response. Theophylline has been shown to ameliorate impaired steroid sensitivity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by facilitating corticosteroid‐induced silencing of proinflammatory genes.
Carriage of a tumor necrosis factor polymorphism amplifies the cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte antigen 4 attributed risk of primary biliary cirrhosis: Evidence for a gene–gene interaction
Brian D. Juran, Elizabeth J. Atkinson, Joseph J. Larson, Erik M. Schlicht, Xiangdong Liu, E. Jenny Heathcote, Gideon M. Hirschfield, Katherine A. Siminovitch, Konstantinos N. Lazaridis – 23 June 2010 – Common genetic variants significantly influence complex diseases such as primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). We recently reported an association between PBC and a single nucleotide polymorphism (rs231725) of the immunoreceptor gene cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4).
Cigarette smoking is not associated with specific histological features or severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Yusuf Yilmaz, Oya Yonal, Ramazan Kurt, Erol Avsar – 23 June 2010
Religiosity associated with prolonged survival in liver transplant recipients
Franco Bonaguidi, Claudio Michelassi, Franco Filipponi, Daniele Rovai – 18 June 2010 – We tested the hypothesis that religiosity (ie, seeking God's help, having faith in God, trusting in God, and trying to perceive God's will in the disease) is associated with improved survival in patients with end‐stage liver disease who have undergone orthotopic liver transplantation. We studied a group of 179 candidates for liver transplantation who responded to a questionnaire on religiosity during the pretransplant psychological evaluation and underwent transplantation between 2004 and 2007.
Gender disparity in liver transplant waiting‐list mortality: The importance of kidney function
Ayse L. Mindikoglu, Arie Regev, Stephen L. Seliger, Laurence S. Magder – 18 June 2010 – Previous studies of men and women on the liver transplantation (LT) waiting list, without taking transplantation rates into account, have suggested a higher risk of mortality for women on the waiting list. The objective of this study was to compare men and women with respect to dying within 3 years of registration on the LT waiting list and to take into account both the immediate mortality risks and the transplantation rates.
Glucosidase inhibition enhances presentation of de–N‐glycosylated hepatitis B virus epitopes by major histocompatibility complex class I in vitro and in woodchucks
Pamela A. Norton, Stephan Menne, Gomathinayagam Sinnathamby, Lucy Betesh, Paul J. Cote, Ramila Philip, Anand S. Mehta, Bud C. Tennant, Timothy M. Block – 16 June 2010 – In this report, the possibility of pharmacologically altering the hepatitis B virus (HBV) epitopes presented by major histocompatibility complex class I on infected cells is demonstrated. The HBV middle envelope glycoprotein (MHBs) maturation appears to require calnexin‐mediated folding. This interaction is dependent on glucosidases in the endoplasmic reticulum.
Is sexual contact a major mode of hepatitis C virus transmission?
Rania A. Tohme, Scott D. Holmberg – 16 June 2010 – Medical opinion varies considerably regarding the transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) through sexual contact. Based on the study design, representativeness of the study population, and the methods used for case ascertainment, we analyzed 80 qualifying reports regarding the evidence for or against sexual transmission. Regarding heterosexual transmission, the weight of evidence is that there is no increased risk of sexual transmission of HCV among heterosexual couples in regular relationships.
The biliary HCO3− umbrella: A unifying hypothesis on pathogenetic and therapeutic aspects of fibrosing cholangiopathies
Ulrich Beuers, Simon Hohenester, Lucas J. Maillette de Buy Wenniger, Andreas E. Kremer, Peter L. M. Jansen, Ronald P. J. Oude Elferink – 16 June 2010 – This review focuses on the hypothesis that biliary HCO secretion in humans serves to maintain an alkaline pH near the apical surface of hepatocytes and cholangiocytes to prevent the uncontrolled membrane permeation of protonated glycine‐conjugated bile acids.
Histologic outcomes in hepatitis C–infected patients with varying degrees of virologic response to interferon‐based treatments
Paul J. Pockros, Fayez M. Hamzeh, Paul Martin, Ellen Lentz, Xiaolei Zhou, Sugantha Govindarajan, Anna S. Lok – 16 June 2010 – Patients with chronic hepatitis C with partial virologic response or nonresponse to interferon‐based therapies can experience treatment‐related improvements in liver histology. This retrospective analysis assessed the histologic response to treatment in patients with varying degrees of virologic response (sustained virologic response [SVR], breakthrough, relapse, or nonresponse), time to hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA undetectability, and duration of viral suppression.