Wing‐Kin Syn, Ye Htun Oo, Thiago A. Pereira, Gamze F. Karaca, Youngmi Jung, Alessia Omenetti, Rafal P. Witek, Steve S. Choi, Cynthia D. Guy, Caitlin M. Fearing, Vanessa Teaberry, Fausto E.L. Pereira, David H. Adams, Anna Mae Diehl – 23 May 2010 – Liver inflammation is greater in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) than steatosis, suggesting that immune responses contribute to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progression. Livers normally contain many natural killer T (NKT) cells that produce factors that modulate inflammatory and fibrogenic responses.

Barbara A. Wetmore, Dominique J. Brees, Reetu Singh, Paul B. Watkins, Melvin E. Andersen, James Loy, Russell S. Thomas – 23 May 2010 – Serum aminotransferases have been the clinical standard for evaluating liver injury for the past 50‐60 years. These tissue enzymes lack specificity, also tracking injury to other tissues. New technologies assessing tissue‐specific messenger RNA (mRNA) release into blood should provide greater specificity and permit indirect assessment of gene expression status of injured tissue.

Stuart F. W. Kendrick, Graeme O'Boyle, Jelena Mann, Mujdat Zeybel, Jeremy Palmer, David E. J. Jones, Chris P. Day – 23 May 2010 – Acute alcoholic hepatitis is characterized by disproportionate macrophage inflammatory cytokine responses to bacterial lipopolysaccharide. Lack of knowledge of the underlying mechanism has limited progress toward effective therapy. We postulated a novel mechanism by which ethanol increases histone acetylation, increasing proinflammatory gene transcription and cytokine synthesis.

John F. Reinus, Allan W. Wolkoff – 23 May 2010

Elizabeth K. Speliotes, Joseph M. Massaro, Udo Hoffmann, Ramachandran S. Vasan, James B. Meigs, Dushyant V. Sahani, Joel N. Hirschhorn, Christopher J. O'Donnell, Caroline S. Fox – 23 May 2010 – Obesity is not uniformly associated with the development of metabolic sequelae. Specific patterns of body fat distribution, in particular fatty liver, may preferentially predispose at‐risk individuals to disease. In this study, we characterize the metabolic correlates of fat in the liver in a large community‐based sample with and without respect to visceral fat.

Patricia M. Verhulst, Lieke M. van der Velden, Viola Oorschot, Ernst E. van Faassen, Judith Klumperman, Roderick H. J. Houwen, Thomas G. Pomorski, Joost C. M. Holthuis, Leo W. J. Klomp – 23 May 2010 – Mutations in ATP8B1 cause familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 1, a spectrum of disorders characterized by intrahepatic cholestasis, reduced growth, deafness, and diarrhea.

Mustafa S. Ascha, Ibrahim A. Hanouneh, Rocio Lopez, Tarek Abu‐Rajab Tamimi, Ariel F. Feldstein, Nizar N. Zein – 23 May 2010 – Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a well‐recognized cause of cirrhosis and has been increasingly associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Paul A. Dawson – 23 May 2010

Damijan Nipič, Aleš Pirc, Blaž Banič, Dušan Šuput, Irina Milisav – 23 May 2010 – Primary hepatocytes are an important in vitro model for studying metabolism in man. Caspase‐9 and Bcl‐2‐associated X protein (Bax) are regulators of the apoptotic pathway. Here we report on the translocation of procaspase‐9 and Bax from cytoplasm to nuclei as well as on dispersion of mitochondria; these processes occur after isolation of primary hepatocytes.

Beatriz Arteta, Nerea Lasuen, Aritz Lopategi, Baldur Sveinbjörnsson, Bård Smedsrød, Fernando Vidal‐Vanaclocha – 23 May 2010 – Mannose receptor (ManR)‐mediated liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) endocytosis plays a role in antigen presentation and innate immunity, but its role in hepatic metastasis is unknown. We studied ManR‐mediated endocytosis during C26 colorectal cancer cell interaction with LSECs and its implications in metastasis. Uptake of labeled ManR ligands (mannan and ovalbumin) and immunohistochemistry were used to study ManR endocytosis and expression.