Raymund R. Razonable, James Y. Findlay, Aisling O'Riordan, S. Gordon Burroughs, R. Mark Ghobrial, Banwari Agarwal, Andrew Davenport, Michael Gropper – 7 March 2011 – The majority of patients who undergo liver transplantation (LT) spend some time in the intensive care unit during the postoperative period. For some, this is an expected part of the immediate posttransplant recovery period, whereas for others, the stay is more prolonged because of preexisting conditions, intraoperative events, or postoperative complications.

Mark A. McNiven, Carol A. Casey – 7 March 2011

Peter Nissen Bjerring, Martin Eefsen, Fin Stolze Larsen, William Bernal, Julia Wendon – 7 March 2011 – Intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate prevents seizures in patients with eclampsia and brain edema after traumatic brain injury. Neuroprotection is achieved by controlling cerebral blood flow (CBF), intracranial pressure, neuronal glutamate release, and aquaporin‐4 (Aqp4) expression. These factors are also thought to be involved in the development of brain edema in acute liver failure.

Patrizia Burra, Giacomo Germani, Francesca Gnoato, Silvia Lazzaro, Francesco Paolo Russo, Umberto Cillo, Marco Senzolo – 7 March 2011 – Adherence to a medical regimen has been defined as the extent to which a patient's behavior coincides with clinical prescriptions. In liver transplant patients, adherence to immunosuppressive therapy and to medical indications in general is crucial for short‐ and long‐term outcomes.

Paul Bensadoun, Christophe Rodriguez, Alexandre Soulier, Martin Higgs, Stéphane Chevaliez, Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky – 7 March 2011

Jeremie Guedj, Alan S. Perelson – 7 March 2011 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA decay during antiviral therapy is characterized by a rapid first phase, followed by a slower second phase. The current understanding of viral kinetics attributes the magnitude of the first phase of decay to treatment effectiveness, whereas the second phase of decay is attributed to the progressive loss of infected cells. Here, we analyzed data from 44 patients treated with telaprevir, a potent HCV protease inhibitor.

Claus U. Niemann, David J. Kramer – 7 March 2011

Yong‐Han Paik, Keiko Iwaisako, Ekihiro Seki, Sayaka Inokuchi, Bernd Schnabl, Christoph H. Österreicher, Tatiana Kisseleva, David A. Brenner – 7 March 2011 – Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NOX) is a multicomponent enzyme that mediates electron transfer from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate to molecular oxygen, which leads to the production of superoxide. NOX2/gp91phox is a catalytic subunit of NOX expressed in phagocytic cells. Several homologues of NOX2, including NOX1, have been identified in nonphagocytic cells.

Cristina R. Bosoi, Christian Parent‐Robitaille, Keith Anderson, Mélanie Tremblay, Christopher F. Rose – 7 March 2011 – The pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy is multifactorial, involving gut‐derived toxins such as ammonia, which has been demonstrated to induce oxidative stress. Therefore, a primary hepatic encephalopathy treatment target is reducing ammonia production in the gastrointestinal tract. AST‐120, an oral adsorbent of engineered activated carbon microspheres with surface areas exceeding 1600 m2/g, acts as a sink for neurotoxins and hepatotoxins present in the gut.

Lily Dara, Cheng Ji, Neil Kaplowitz – 7 March 2011 – The unfolded protein response (UPR) is an evolutionarily conserved cell signaling pathway that is activated to regulate protein synthesis and restore homeostatic equilibrium when the cell is stressed from increased client protein load or the accumulation of unfolded or malfolded proteins. Once activated, this signaling pathway can either result in the recovery of homeostasis or can activate a cascade of events that ultimately result in cell death.