Michael L. Volk, Rachel Tocco, Sameer Saini, Anna S.F. Lok – 20 November 2009 – Despite dramatic improvements in antiviral therapy for hepatitis C, there is reason to believe that the uptake of antiviral therapy remains limited. The aims of this study were to determine the number of patients being treated with antiviral therapy in the U.S., to estimate the public health impact of these treatment patterns, and to identify barriers to treatment for patients with hepatitis C.

Manuel Romero‐Gómez, Moisés Diago, Raúl J. Andrade, José L. Calleja, Javier Salmerón, Conrado M. Fernández‐Rodríguez, Ricard Solà, Javier García‐Samaniego, Juan M. Herrerías, Manuel De la Mata, Ricardo Moreno‐Otero, Óscar Nuñez, Antonio Olveira, Santiago Durán, Ramón Planas, Spanish TRIC‐1 (Treatment of Resistance to Insulin in Hepatitis C Genotype 1) group – 20 November 2009 – Insulin resistance affects sustained virological response (SVR) in chronic hepatitis C.

Horng‐Ren Yang, Hong‐Shuie Chou, Xiaodong Gu, Lianfu Wang, Kathleen E. Brown, John J. Fung, Lina Lu, Shiguang Qian – 20 November 2009 – The liver is considered to be an immune‐privileged organ that favors the induction of tolerance. The underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. Interestingly, liver transplants are spontaneously accepted in several animal models, but hepatocyte transplants are acutely rejected, suggesting that liver nonparenchymal cells may effectively protect the parenchymal cells from immune attack.

20 November 2009

Junfang Ji, Xin Wei Wang – 20 November 2009

Hisashi Moriguchi – 20 November 2009

Oscar Gonzalez, Vanessa Fontanes, Santanu Raychaudhuri, Rachel Loo, Joseph Loo, Vaithilingaraja Arumugaswami, Ren Sun, Asim Dasgupta, Samuel W. French – 20 November 2009 – The hepatitis C viral (HCV) genome is translated through an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) as a single polyprotein precursor that is subsequently cleaved into individual mature viral proteins. Nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) is one of these proteins that has been implicated in regulation of viral genome replication, translation from the viral IRES and viral packaging.

Steve S. Choi, Anna Mae Diehl – 20 November 2009 – The outcome of liver injury is dictated by the effectiveness of repair. Successful repair (i.e., regeneration) results in replacement of dead epithelial cells with healthy epithelial cells, and reconstructs normal hepatic structure and function. Liver regeneration is known to involve replication of surviving mature hepatocytes and bile duct cells. This review discusses recent evidence for other mechanisms that might also replace dead hepatic epithelial cells and repair liver damage, particularly during chronic injury.

Manal F. Abdelmalek, Schuyler O. Sanderson, Paul Angulo, Consuelo Soldevila‐Pico, Chen Liu, Joy Peter, Jill Keach, Matt Cave, Theresa Chen, Craig J. McClain, Keith D. Lindor – 20 November 2009 – Based on animal studies and pilot studies in humans, betaine, a methyl donor for the remethylation of homocysteine, may be a therapeutic agent for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We evaluated the safety and efficacy of betaine for patients with NASH and whether betaine positively modified factors postulated to be “second hits” and underlying mechanisms of NASH.

Robert P. Myers, Abdel Aziz M. Shaheen, Andrew Fong, Kelly W. Burak, Alex Wan, Mark G. Swain, Robert J. Hilsden, Lloyd Sutherland, Hude Quan – 20 November 2009 – The recent epidemiology and outcomes of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) in North America are incompletely described, partly due to difficulties in case ascertainment. In light of their availability, broad coverage, and limited expense, administrative databases may facilitate such investigations.