Kjetil Elvevold, Jaione Simon‐Santamaria, Hege Hasvold, Peter McCourt, Bård Smedsrød, Karen Kristine Sørensen – 24 November 2008 – Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) are largely responsible for the removal of circulating lysosomal enzymes (LE) via mannose receptor (MR)‐mediated endocytosis. We hypothesized that LSECs rely on this uptake to maintain their extraordinarily high degradation capacity for other endocytosed material.

Shailendra Kapoor – 24 November 2008

Anna Ludovica Fracanzani, Luca Valenti, Silvia Fargion – 24 November 2008

Thomas Kuntzen, Joerg Timm, Andrew Berical, Niall Lennon, Aaron M. Berlin, Sarah K. Young, Bongshin Lee, David Heckerman, Jonathan Carlson, Laura L. Reyor, Marianna Kleyman, Cory M. McMahon, Christopher Birch, Julian Schulze zur Wiesch, Timothy Ledlie, Michael Koehrsen, Chinnappa Kodira, Andrew D. Roberts, Georg M. Lauer, Hugo R. Rosen, Florian Bihl, Andreas Cerny, Ulrich Spengler, Zhimin Liu, Arthur Y. Kim, Yanming Xing, Arne Schneidewind, Margaret A. Madey, Jaquelyn F. Fleckenstein, Vicki M. Park, James E. Galagan, Chad Nusbaum, Bruce D. Walker, Gerond V. Lake‐Bakaar, Eric S.

Pedro Zapater, Rubén Francés, José M. González‐Navajas, Maria A. de la Hoz, Rocío Moreu, Sonia Pascual, David Monfort, Silvia Montoliu, Carmen Vila, Amparo Escudero, Xavier Torras, Isabel Cirera, Lucía Llanos, Carlos Guarner‐Argente, José M. Palazón, Fernando Carnicer, Pablo Bellot, Carlos Guarner, Ramón Planas, Ricard Solá, Miguel A. Serra, Carlos Muñoz, Miguel Pérez‐Mateo, José Such – 24 November 2008 – We tested the hypothesis that the presence of bacterial DNA (bactDNA) in ascitic fluid and serum is associated with decreased survival in patients with cirrhosis.

Pietro Invernizzi, Carlo Selmi, Francesca Poli, Sara Frison, Annarosa Floreani, Domenico Alvaro, Piero Almasio, Floriano Rosina, Marco Marzioni, Luca Fabris, Luigi Muratori, Lihong Qi, Michael F. Seldin, M. Eric Gershwin, Mauro Podda, Italian PBC Genetic Study Group – 24 November 2008 – Genetic factors are critical in determining susceptibility to primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), but there has not been a clear association with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes.

Rajagopal N. Aravalli, Clifford J. Steer, Erik N. K. Cressman – 24 November 2008 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) typically has poor prognosis, because it is often diagnosed at an advanced stage. Heterogeneous phenotypic and genetic traits of affected individuals and a wide range of risk factors have classified it a complex disease. HCC is not amenable to standard chemotherapy and is resistant to radiotherapy. In most cases, surgical resection and liver transplantation remain the only curative treatment options. Therefore, development of novel, effective therapies is of prime importance.

Gustavo Castaño, Silvia Sookoian – 24 November 2008

Norma C. McAvoy, Narendra Kochar, Graham McKillop, David E. Newby, Peter C. Hayes – 24 November 2008 – Patients with advanced liver disease are at increased risk of cardiovascular events, especially following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a novel and independent predictor of cardiovascular risk, but its prevalence and utility in patients with cirrhosis are unknown.

Campbell Kynoch Aitken, Jennifer Lewis, Samantha Lilly Tracy, Timothy Spelman, David Scott Bowden, Mandvi Bharadwaj, Heidi Drummer, Margaret Hellard – 24 November 2008 – An estimated 170 million people worldwide carry the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and in more developed countries the prevalence and incidence of HCV is particularly high among injecting drug users (IDUs). Spontaneous clearance of HCV infection and reinfection is well recognized but the level of protection against further infection conferred by HCV infection and clearance remains uncertain.