Hepatic vascular malformations in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: In search of predictors of significant disease
Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Karen L. Swanson – 28 October 2008
Avoiding therapeutic pitfalls: The rational use of specifically targeted agents against hepatitis C infection
Barbara H. McGovern, Barham K. Abu Dayyeh, Raymond T. Chung – 28 October 2008 – The development of specifically targeted antiviral agents against hepatitis C is a major therapeutic advance that promises to markedly improve treatment response rates in patients with chronic infection. However, rapid emergence of drug resistance has already been described, the consequences of which are not yet understood.
Extrahepatic cholestasis increases liver stiffness (FibroScan) irrespective of fibrosis
Gunda Millonig, Frank M. Reimann, Stephanie Friedrich, Hamidreza Fonouni, Arianeb Mehrabi, Markus W. Büchler, Helmut Karl Seitz, Sebastian Mueller – 28 October 2008 – Transient elastography (FibroScan [FS]) is a novel non‐invasive tool to assess liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. However, it remains to be determined if other liver diseases such as extrahepatic cholestasis interfere with fibrosis assessment because liver stiffness is indirectly measured by the propagation velocity of an ultrasound wave within the liver.
Hepatitis B virus X protein affects S phase progression leading to chromosome segregation defects by binding to damaged DNA binding protein 1
Silvia Martin‐Lluesma, Céline Schaeffer, Eva Isabelle Robert, Pieter Cornelis van Breugel, Olivier Leupin, Olivier Hantz, Michel Strubin – 28 October 2008 – Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but its role in the transformation process remains unclear. HBV encodes a small protein, known as HBx, which is required for infection and has been implicated in hepatocarcinogenesis. Here we show that HBx induces lagging chromosomes during mitosis, which in turn leads to formation of aberrant mitotic spindles and multinucleated cells.
Is entecavir ideal for the treatment of lamivudine‐refractory chronic hepatitis B?
Chien‐Wei Su, Jaw‐Ching Wu, Shou‐Dong Lee – 28 October 2008
Insulin induces calcium signals in the nucleus of rat hepatocytes
Michele A. Rodrigues, Dawidson A. Gomes, Viviane A. Andrade, M. Fatima Leite, Michael H. Nathanson – 28 October 2008 – Insulin is an hepatic mitogen that promotes liver regeneration. Actions of insulin are mediated by the insulin receptor, which is a receptor tyrosine kinase. It is currently thought that signaling via the insulin receptor occurs at the plasma membrane, where it binds to insulin.
Nuclear bile acid receptor farnesoid X receptor meets nuclear factor‐κB: New insights into hepatic inflammation
Martin Wagner, Gernot Zollner, Michael Trauner – 28 October 2008
A randomized study of adefovir dipivoxil in place of HBIG in combination with lamivudine as post–liver transplantation hepatitis B prophylaxis
Peter W. Angus, Scott J. Patterson, Simone I. Strasser, Geoffrey W. McCaughan, Edward Gane – 28 October 2008 – Prior to effective prophylaxis, liver transplantation for hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐related disease was frequently complicated by recurrence, which could be severe and rapidly progressive. Combination hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) and lamivudine prophylaxis reduces this rate of recurrence to <5% at 5 years; however, HBIG administration is costly and inconvenient.
Cell fusion is a physiological process in mouse liver
Francesca Faggioli, Maria Grazia Sacco, Lucia Susani, Cristina Montagna, Paolo Vezzoni – 28 October 2008 – A large portion of hepatocytes are polyploid cells, thought to arise through endoduplication followed by aborted cytokinesis. However, several recent reports describing liver cell fusion with exogenously derived bone marrow cells have been published. The exact significance of this finding is unclear, because the adopted protocols involve ablation regimens, damaged livers and artificial injections of adult cells.