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.

Kerry‐Lee Milner, David van der Poorten, Aimin Xu, Elisabetta Bugianesi, James G. Kench, Karen S. L. Lam, Donald J. Chisholm, Jacob George – 28 May 2009 – Several circulating cytokines are increased with obesity and may combine with the influence of visceral fat to generate insulin resistance, inflammation, and fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Anthony W. Castleberry, David A. Geller, Allan Tsung – 28 May 2009

Yasuji Arase – 28 May 2009