Anand Dutta, Chandan Saha, Cynthia S. Johnson, Naga Chalasani – 20 November 2009 – We conducted a study to characterize the variability in the upper limit of normal (ULN) for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) across different laboratories (labs) in Indiana and to understand factors leading to such variability. A survey was mailed to all eligible labs (n = 108) in Indiana, and the response rate was 62%. The survey queried for ALT ULN, the type of chemical analyzer used, five College of American Pathologists (CAP) sample results, and methods used to establish the reference interval.

Hayato Hikita, Tetsuo Takehara, Takahiro Kodama, Satoshi Shimizu, Atsushi Hosui, Takuya Miyagi, Tomohide Tatsumi, Hisashi Ishida, Kazuyoshi Ohkawa, Wei Li, Tatsuya Kanto, Naoki Hiramatsu, Lothar Hennighausen, Xiao‐Ming Yin, Norio Hayashi – 20 November 2009 – Bcl‐2 homology domain 3 (BH3)‐only protein Bid is posttranslationally cleaved by caspase‐8 into its truncated form (tBid) and couples with stress signals to the mitochondrial cell death pathway. However, the physiological relevance of Bid is not clearly understood.

Zachary D. Goodman, Anne M. Stoddard, Herbert L. Bonkovsky, Robert J. Fontana, Marc G. Ghany, Timothy R. Morgan, Elizabeth C. Wright, Elizabeth M. Brunt, David E. Kleiner, Mitchell L. Shiffman, Gregory T. Everson, Karen L. Lindsay, Jules L. Dienstag, Chihiro Morishima, HALT‐C Trial Group – 20 November 2009 – Computer‐assisted morphometry can provide precise measurement of hepatic fibrosis on a continuous scale. Previous morphometric studies of large cohorts of patients with treatment refractory chronic hepatitis C have shown a mean increase in fibrosis of 30% to 58% in 1 year.

Florence Aslinia, Ayse L. Mindikoglu – 20 November 2009

D. Robert Dufour – 20 November 2009

David Durantel, Fabien Zoulim – 20 November 2009

Fan Wu, Lian‐Yue Yang, Yun‐Feng Li, Di‐Peng Ou, Dong‐Ping Chen, Chun Fan – 20 November 2009 – Epidermal growth factor‐like domain 7 (Egfl7) is a recently identified secreted protein that is believed to be primarily expressed in endothelial cells (ECs). Although its expression was reported elevated during tumorigenesis, whether and how Egfl7 contributes to human malignancies remains unknown. In the present study overexpression of Egfl7 was found predominantly in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells in HCC tissues and closely correlated with poor prognosis of HCC.

Thierry Gustot, François Durand, Didier Lebrec, Jean‐Louis Vincent, Richard Moreau – 20 November 2009 – Sepsis is physiologically viewed as a proinflammatory and procoagulant response to invading pathogens. There are three recognized stages in the inflammatory response with progressively increased risk of end‐organ failure and death: sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock. Patients with cirrhosis are prone to develop sepsis, sepsis‐induced organ failure, and death.

Montserrat Moreno, Javier F. Chaves, Pau Sancho‐Bru, Fernando Ramalho, Leandra N. Ramalho, Maria L. Mansego, Carmen Ivorra, Marlene Dominguez, Laura Conde, Cristina Millán, Montserrat Marí, Jordi Colmenero, Juan J. Lozano, Pedro Jares, Josep Vidal, Xavier Forns, Vicente Arroyo, Juan Caballería, Pere Ginès, Ramón Bataller – 9 November 2009 – There are no effective antifibrotic therapies for patients with liver diseases. We performed an experimental and translational study to investigate whether ghrelin, an orexigenic hormone with pleiotropic properties, modulates liver fibrogenesis.

Laurent Castéra, Juliette Foucher, Pierre‐Henri Bernard, Françoise Carvalho, Daniele Allaix, Wassil Merrouche, Patrice Couzigou, Victor de Lédinghen – 9 November 2009 – Liver stiffness measurement (LSM) based on transient elastography (TE, FibroScan) is gaining in popularity for noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis. However, LSM has limitations, which have not yet been thoroughly evaluated. We prospectively investigated the frequency and determinants of LSM failure and unreliable results over a 5‐year period, based on 13,369 examinations (134,239 shots).