Elke M. Hennes, Mikio Zeniya, Albert. J. Czaja, Albert Parés, George N. Dalekos, Edward L. Krawitt, Paulo L. Bittencourt, Gilda Porta, Kirsten M. Boberg, Harald Hofer, Francesco B. Bianchi, Minoru Shibata, Christoph Schramm, Barbara Eisenmann de Torres, Peter R. Galle, Ian McFarlane, Hans‐Peter Dienes, Ansgar W. Lohse, International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group – 20 June 2008 – Diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) may be challenging. However, early diagnosis is important because immunosuppression is life‐saving.

Akihide Kamiya, Sei Kakinuma, Masafumi Onodera, Atsushi Miyajima, Hiromitsu Nakauchi – 20 June 2008 – During early to late‐fetal liver development, bipotential hepatoblasts proliferate and differentiate into hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. The prospero‐related homeobox 1 gene (Prox1) is expressed in hepatoblasts, and the inactivation of Prox1 causes defective early liver development, in particular, faulty migration of fetal hepatoblasts. Prox1 binds to another hepatocyte‐enriched transcription factor, liver receptor homolog 1 (Lrh1), and suppresses its transcriptional activity.

Aurélie Piodi, Philippe Chouteau, Hervé Lerat, Christophe Hézode, Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky – 20 June 2008 – Hepatocellular steatosis is common in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Steatosis can be considered as a true cytopathic lesion induced by hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 3, suggesting that one or more viral proteins produced during genotype 3 infection are involved in the steatogenic process, while the same proteins produced during infection by other genotypes are not.

Jian Zhao, Bin Lu, Hao Xu, Xin Tong, Guobin Wu, Xia Zhang, Anmin Liang, Wenming Cong, Jianxin Dai, Hao Wang, Mengchao Wu, Yajun Guo – 20 June 2008 – It has been previously demonstrated that the 30‐kDa Tat‐interacting protein (TIP30) plays an important role in the suppression of hepatocarcinogenesis by acting as a tumor suppressor. Here we report that TIP30 suppresses metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through inhibiting the transcription of osteopontin (OPN), a key molecule in the development of tumor metastasis.

Steven M. Kawut, Michael J. Krowka, James F. Trotter, Kari E. Roberts, Raymond L. Benza, David B. Badesch, Darren B. Taichman, Evelyn M. Horn, Steven Zacks, Neil Kaplowitz, Robert S. Brown, Michael B. Fallon, Pulmonary Vascular Complications of Liver Disease Study Group – 20 June 2008 – Portopulmonary hypertension affects up to 6% of patients with advanced liver disease, but the predictors and biologic mechanism for the development of this complication are unknown. We sought to determine the clinical risk factors for portopulmonary hypertension in patients with advanced liver disease.

Akio Matsumoto – 20 June 2008

Gina Choi, Marion G. Peters – 20 June 2008

Peter Jepsen, Hendrik Vilstrup, Per Kragh Andersen, Timothy L. Lash, Henrik Toft Sørensen – 20 June 2008 – Patients with liver cirrhosis have a high mortality, not just from cirrhosis‐related causes, but also from other causes. This observation indicates that many patients with cirrhosis have other chronic diseases, yet the prognostic impact of comorbidities has not been examined.

Benjamin D. Cosgrove, Connie Cheng, Justin R. Pritchard, Donna B. Stolz, Douglas A. Lauffenburger, Linda G. Griffith – 20 June 2008 – Tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF) is an inflammatory cytokine that induces context‐dependent proliferation, survival, and apoptosis responses in hepatocytes. TNF stimulates and enhances growth factor‐mediated hepatocyte proliferation and survival following partial hepatectomy, but also acts in concert with other inflammatory cytokines of the innate immune response during viral infection to induce apoptosis in hepatocytes.

Yoichi Hiasa, Hiroyuki Kuzuhara, Yoshio Tokumoto, Ichiro Konishi, Nobuyuki Yamashita, Bunzo Matsuura, Kojiro Michitaka, Raymond T. Chung, Morikazu Onji – 20 June 2008 – A derivative of soyasapogenol, 22β‐methoxyolean‐12‐ene‐3β, 24(4β)‐diol (ME3738), ameliorates liver injury induced by Concanavalin A in mice.