Astrid Spruss, Giridhar Kanuri, Sabine Wagnerberger, Synia Haub, Stephan C. Bischoff, Ina Bergheim – 28 September 2009 – A link between dietary fructose intake, gut‐derived endotoxemia, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been suggested by the results of human and animal studies. To further investigate the role of gut‐derived endotoxin in the onset of fructose‐induced NAFLD, Toll‐like receptor (TLR‐) 4‐mutant (C3H/HeJ) mice and wildtype (C3H/HouJ) mice were either fed plain water or water enriched with 30% fructose for 8 weeks.

Harmen Wiersma, Alberto Gatti, Niels Nijstad, Ronald P. J. Oude Elferink, Folkert Kuipers, Uwe J. F. Tietge – 28 September 2009 – Scavenger receptor class B type I (SR‐BI) mediates selective uptake of cholesterol from high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) particles by the liver and influences biliary cholesterol secretion. However, it is not clear, if this effect is direct or indirect. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of SR‐BI on biliary cholesterol secretion, especially in a functional context with ATP‐binding cassette transporter g5 (Abcg5)/Abcg8 and Abcb4.

Moira Marcolongo, Bradford Young, Francesca Dal Pero, Giovanna Fattovich, Laura Peraro, Maria Guido, Giada Sebastiani, Giorgio Palù, Alfredo Alberti – 28 September 2009 – Fibrosis progression is the main determinant of liver disease outcome in chronic hepatitis C, being influenced by environmental and host factors. Recently, a cirrhosis risk score (CRS) based on seven single‐nucleotide polymorphisms was proposed as genetic predictor of cirrhosis in hepatitis C.

Tetsuji Fujita – 28 September 2009

Julia Németh, Ilan Stein, Daniel Haag, Astrid Riehl, Thomas Longerich, Elad Horwitz, Kai Breuhahn, Christoffer Gebhardt, Peter Schirmacher, Meinhard Hahn, Yinon Ben‐Neriah, Eli Pikarsky, Peter Angel, Jochen Hess – 28 September 2009 – The nuclear factor‐kappaB (NF‐κB) signaling pathway has been recently shown to participate in inflammation‐induced cancer progression. Here, we describe a detailed analysis of the NF‐κB–dependent gene regulatory network in the well‐established Mdr2 knockout mouse model of inflammation‐associated liver carcinogenesis.

Uta Rabenhorst, Rasa Beinoraviciute‐Kellner, Marie‐Luise Brezniceanu, Stefan Joos, Frauke Devens, Peter Lichter, Ralf J. Rieker, Jörg Trojan, Hye‐Jung Chung, David L. Levens, Martin Zörnig – 28 September 2009 – We identified the far upstream element binding protein 1 (FBP1), an activator of transcription of the proto‐oncogene c‐myc, in a functional yeast survival screen for tumor‐related antiapoptotic proteins and demonstrated strong overexpression of FBP1 in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Francesca Bravi, Cristina Bosetti, Alessandra Tavani, Carlo La Vecchia – 28 September 2009

Miriam B. Vos, Craig J. McClain – 28 September 2009

Sally Chappell, Tamar Guetta‐Baranés, Nedim Hadzic, Robert Stockley, Noor Kalsheker – 28 September 2009

Rohit Loomba, Claude B. Sirlin, Jeffrey B. Schwimmer, Joel E. Lavine – 28 September 2009 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged as the leading cause of chronic liver disease in children and adolescents in the United States. A two‐ to three‐fold rise in the rates of obesity and overweight in children over the last two decades is probably responsible for the NAFLD epidemic. Emerging data suggest that children with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) progress to cirrhosis, which may ultimately increase liver‐related mortality.