Sildenafil monotherapy in portopulmonary hypertension can facilitate liver transplantation

Anna R. Hemnes, Ivan M. Robbins – 24 December 2008 – Portopulmonary hypertension (POPH), or pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with cirrhosis, carries a high mortality and often precludes liver transplantation. Many POPH patients have preserved or increased cardiac output; therefore, decreasing pulmonary artery pressure rather than improving cardiac output is more important in reducing liver transplant risk, and this makes sildenafil an attractive therapeutic option. We assessed the clinical response of patients with POPH treated with sildenafil monotherapy.

Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells depend on mannose receptor‐mediated recruitment of lysosomal enzymes for normal degradation capacity

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.

Naturally occurring dominant resistance mutations to hepatitis C virus protease and polymerase inhibitors in treatment‐naïve patients

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.

Serum and ascitic fluid bacterial DNA: A new independent prognostic factor in noninfected patients with cirrhosis

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.

Human leukocyte antigen polymorphisms in italian primary biliary cirrhosis: A multicenter study of 664 patients and 1992 healthy controls

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.

Molecular mechanisms of hepatocellular carcinoma

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.

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