Rosa Ayala, Silvia Grande, Enriqueta Albizua, Almudena Crooke, Juan Carlos Meneu, Almudena Moreno, Baltasar Pérez, Florinda Gilsanz, Enrique Moreno, Joaquín Martínez‐Lopez – 28 May 2009 – We aimed to quantify peripheral donor chimerism (DC) and to analyze its association with graft and recipient outcome. Forty‐two liver transplant recipients and their respective donors were studied, providing a total of 148 posttransplantation serum samples. DC was assessed with real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to detect polymorphic markers.

Olav A. Gressner, Birgit Lahme, Monika Siluschek, Katharina Rehbein, Ralf Weiskirchen, Axel M. Gressner – 28 May 2009 – In vivo knockdown of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) was recently shown to attenuate the formation of experimental liver fibrosis.

Giada Sebastiani, Philippe Halfon, Laurent Castera, Stanislas Pol, David L. Thomas, Alessandra Mangia, Vito Di Marco, Mario Pirisi, Mihai Voiculescu, Maria Guido, Marc Bourliere, Franco Noventa, Alfredo Alberti – 28 May 2009 – The staging of liver fibrosis is pivotal for defining the prognosis and indications for therapy in hepatitis C. Although liver biopsy remains the gold standard, several noninvasive methods are under evaluation for clinical use.

Ryota Masuzaki, Ryosuke Tateishi, Haruhiko Yoshida, Eriko Goto, Takahisa Sato, Takamasa Ohki, Jun Imamura, Tadashi Goto, Fumihiko Kanai, Naoya Kato, Hitoshi Ikeda, Shuichiro Shiina, Takao Kawabe, Masao Omata – 28 May 2009 – Liver stiffness, noninvasively measured by transient elastography, correlates well with liver fibrosis stage. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the liver stiffness measurement (LSM) as a predictor of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development among patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Bruce R. Bacon, Mitchell L. Shiffman, Flavia Mendes, Reem Ghalib, Tarek Hassanein, Giuseppe Morelli, Shobha Joshi, Kenneth Rothstein, Paul Kwo, Norman Gitlin – 28 May 2009 – Up to 50% of patients with chronic hepatitis C fail to respond to initial therapy with pegylated interferon (PEG‐IFN) and ribavirin (RBV). With unsuccessful viral eradication, these patients remain at risk for developing progression of their liver disease. Retreatment with PEG‐IFN/RBV yields sustained virologic response (SVR) rates that are under 10%.

Feng Hong, Ana Tuyama, Ting Fang Lee, Johnny Loke, Ritu Agarwal, Xin Cheng, Anita Garg, M. Isabel Fiel, Myron Schwartz, Jose Walewski, Andrea Branch, Alison D. Schecter, Meena B. Bansal – 28 May 2009 – Chemokine interactions with their receptors have been implicated in hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation. The hepatic expression of CXCR4 messenger RNA is increased in hepatitis C cirrhotic livers and plasma levels of its endogenous ligand, stromal cell–derived factor‐1α (SDF‐1α), correlate with increased fibrosis in these patients. The expression of CXCR4 by HSCs has not been reported.

Jung Im Seok, Dong Kuck Lee, Chang Hyeong Lee, Min Su Park, Sun Young Kim, Hyang‐Sook Kim, Hee‐Young Jo, Chang Hun Lee, Dae‐Seong Kim – 28 May 2009 – Clevudine (Revovir), a pyrimidine nucleoside analogue, is a recently introduced antiviral drug. Clinical trials have demonstrated potent, sustained antiviral activity against hepatitis B virus without specific adverse events. The lack of cytotoxicity and absence of an effect on mitochondrial function have been considered the reasons for the fewer adverse events.

Patrizia Burra, Massimiliano Loreno, Francesco Paolo Russo, Giacomo Germani, Alessandra Galligioni, Marco Senzolo, Umberto Cillo, Giacomo Zanus, Stefano Fagiuoli, Massimo Rugge – 28 May 2009 – Whether donor graft steatosis affects liver function and influences survival after liver transplantation is still open to debate. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of donor graft steatosis on long‐term liver histology after liver transplantation.

Sandy Feng – 28 May 2009

Akihito Inatsu, Manabu Kinoshita, Hiroyuki Nakashima, Jun Shimizu, Daizoh Saitoh, Seiichi Tamai, Shuhji Seki – 28 May 2009 – Although C‐reactive protein (CRP) is a representative acute‐phase protein produced by hepatocytes, the role of CRP in liver innate immunity remains unclear.