Elizabeth M. Brunt, David E. Kleiner, Laura A. Wilson, Patricia Belt, Brent A. Neuschwander‐Tetri, for the NASH Clinical Research Network (CRN) – 13 December 2010 – The diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is defined by the presence and pattern of specific histological abnormalities on liver biopsy. A separate system of scoring the features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) called the NAFLD Activity Score (NAS) was developed as a tool to measure changes in NAFLD during therapeutic trials.

Jan Stange, Melanie Stiffel, Anne Goetze, Sabrina Strube, Juliane Gruenert, Sebastian Klammt, Steffen Mitzner, Sebastian Koball, Stefan Liebe, Emil Reisinger – 13 December 2010 – Liver failure is associated with an accumulation of toxic molecules that exert an affinity to albumin. Some of them have vasoactive activity. So far, albumin has been used as a plasma expander to improve the available circulating blood volume. However, recent studies have suggested that albumin is more effective than starch for this indication.

Hye Jung Baek, Michael J. Pishvaian, Yi Tang, Tae Hyun Kim, Shaoxian Yang, Majed El Zouhairi, Jon Mendelson, Kirti Shetty, Bhaskar Kallakury, Deborah L. Berry, Kyung Hwan Shin, Bibhuti Mishra, E. Premkumar Reddy, Sang Soo Kim, Lopa Mishra – 13 December 2010 – Transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β) is an important regulator of cell growth, and loss of TGF‐β signaling is a hallmark of carcinogenesis. The Smad3/4 adaptor protein β2‐spectrin (β2SP) is emerging as a potent regulator of tumorigenesis through its ability to modulate the tumor suppressor function of TGF‐β.

Luca Valenti, MariaGrazia Rumi, Enrico Galmozzi, Alessio Aghemo, Benedetta Del Menico, Stella De Nicola, Paola Dongiovanni, Marco Maggioni, Anna Ludovica Fracanzani, Raffaela Rametta, Massimo Colombo, Silvia Fargion – 13 December 2010 – Steatosis has been reported to negatively influence the natural history of chronic hepatitis C (CHC), but controversy remains over its causal role due to the confounding effect of adiposity, insulin resistance, and diabetes.

Manuel Mendizabal, K. Rajender Reddy, James Cassuto, Kim M. Olthoff, Thomas W. Faust, George A. Makar, Elizabeth B. Rand, Abraham Shaked, Peter L. Abt – 13 December 2010 – The improved life expectancy of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) has led to a change in the impact of liver disease on the prognosis of this population. Liver transplantation has emerged as the procedure of choice for patients with CF and features of hepatic decompensation and for intractable variceal bleeding as a major manifestation.

Julia von Frowein, Philipp Pagel, Roland Kappler, Dietrich von Schweinitz, Adelbert Roscher, Irene Schmid – 13 December 2010 – MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are well‐known regulators of proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation and are recognized to play an important role in the development of cancers. Here we aimed to identify the functional contribution of miRNAs to the biology of hepatoblastoma (HB), the most common malignant liver tumor in childhood.

Julieta Díaz‐Juárez, Rolando Hernández‐Muñoz – 13 December 2010 – Although increased plasma enzyme activities could be diagnostic for tissue damage, the mechanisms controlling cellular enzyme release remain poorly understood. We found a selective and drastic elevation of serum enzyme activities accompanying rat liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PH), apparently controlled by a mechanism dependent on flow‐bearing physical forces. In fact, this study assesses a putative role of calcium mobilization and nitric oxide (NO) production underlying rat liver enzyme release.

Michinori Matsumoto, Yoshiaki Kita, Takeshi Gocho, Shigeki Wakiyama, Taro Sakamoto, Tomonori Iida, Takeyuki Misawa, Yuichi Ishida, Katsuhiko Yanaga – 13 December 2010

Ming‐Hua Zheng, Yu‐Chen Fan, Ke‐Qing Shi, Yong‐Ping Chen – 13 December 2010

Mariana Verdelho Machado, Helena Cortez‐Pinto – 13 December 2010