I‐Chin Wu, Ching‐Lung Lai, Steven‐Huy Bui Han, Kwang‐Hyup Han, Stuart C. Gordon, You‐Chen Chao, Chee‐Kiat Tan, William Sievert, Tawesak Tanwandee, Dong Xu, Boon‐Leong Neo, Ting‐Tsung Chang – 26 March 2010 – Current guidelines for management of chronic hepatitis B recommend treatment for patients presenting with elevated hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) >2 × upper limit of normal (ULN) or histological evidence of liver disease.

Giuseppe Lo Sasso, Nicola Celli, Mariaelena Caboni, Stefania Murzilli, Lorena Salvatore, Annalisa Morgano, Michele Vacca, Tommaso Pagliani, Paolo Parini, Antonio Moschetta – 26 March 2010 – Cholesterol homeostasis is critical for cellular proliferation. Liver X receptor (LXR) α and β are the nuclear receptors responsible for regulation of cholesterol metabolism. In physiological conditions, high intracellular cholesterol levels cause increased synthesis of oxysterols, which activate LXR, thus triggering a transcriptional response for cholesterol secretion and catabolism.

Pantxika Bellecave, Magdalena Sarasin‐Filipowicz, Olivier Donzé, Audrey Kennel, Jérôme Gouttenoire, Etienne Meylan, Luigi Terracciano, Jürg Tschopp, Christoph Sarrazin, Thomas Berg, Darius Moradpour, Markus H. Heim – 26 March 2010 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection induces the endogenous interferon (IFN) system in the liver in some but not all patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Patients with a pre‐activated IFN system are less likely to respond to the current standard therapy with pegylated IFN‐α.

Sombat Treeprasertsuk, Kris V. Kowdley, Velimir A. C. Luketic, M. Edwyn Harrison, Timothy McCashland, Alex S. Befeler, Denise Harnois, Roberta Jorgensen, Jan Petz, Jill Keach, Jeff Schmoll, Tanya Hoskin, Prabin Thapa, Felicity Enders, Keith D. Lindor – 26 March 2010 – The predictors for developing varices in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) have not been well studied prospectively. We sought to define the predictors for the presence of varices at baseline and for newly developing varices in patients with PSC.

Sophie E. Krieger, Mirjam B. Zeisel, Christopher Davis, Christine Thumann, Helen J. Harris, Eva K. Schnober, Christopher Mee, Eric Soulier, Cathy Royer, Mélanie Lambotin, Fritz Grunert, Viet Loan Dao Thi, Marlène Dreux, François‐Loïc Cosset, Jane A. McKeating, Catherine Schuster, Thomas F. Baumert – 26 March 2010 – The tight junction protein claudin‐1 (CLDN1) has been shown to be essential for hepatitis C virus (HCV) entry—the first step of viral infection. Due to the lack of neutralizing anti‐CLDN1 antibodies, the role of CLDN1 in the viral entry process is poorly understood.

Giuseppe Cabibbo, Marco Enea, Massimo Attanasio, Jordi Bruix, Antonio Craxì, Calogero Cammà – 26 March 2010 – Knowing the spontaneous outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is important for designing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of new therapeutic approaches; however, survival of patients in the absence of treatment is highly variable, and prognostic factors influencing outcomes are incompletely defined.

Salvatore Petta, Calogero Cammà, Concetta Scazzone, Claudio Tripodo, Vito Di Marco, Antonino Bono, Daniela Cabibi, Giusalba Licata, Rossana Porcasi, Giulio Marchesini, Antonio Craxí – 26 March 2010 – 25‐Hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) can potentially interfere with inflammatory response and fibrogenesis. Its role in disease progression in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and its relation with histological and sustained virological response (SVR) to therapy are unknown.

Lluis Palenzuela, Antoni Mas, Joan Montaner, Juan Cordoba – 26 March 2010

Thierry Gustot, Richard Moreau – 26 March 2010

Ina Bergheim, Astrid Spruss – 26 March 2010