Lindsay D. Plank, Edward J. Gane, Szelin Peng, Carl Muthu, Sachin Mathur, Lyn Gillanders, Kerry McIlroy, Anthony J. Donaghy, John L. McCall – 15 April 2008 – Patients with liver cirrhosis exhibit early onset of gluconeogenesis after short‐term fasting. This accelerated metabolic reaction to starvation may underlie their increased protein requirements and muscle depletion. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the hypothesis that provision of a late‐evening nutritional supplement over a 12‐month period would improve body protein stores in patients with cirrhosis.

Masanori Seimiya, Takeshi Tomonaga, Kazuyuki Matsushita, Masahiko Sunaga, Masamichi Oh‐ishi, Yoshio Kodera, Tadakazu Maeda, Shigetsugu Takano, Akira Togawa, Hideyuki Yoshitomi, Masayuki Otsuka, Masakazu Yamamoto, Masayuki Nakano, Masaru Miyazaki, Fumio Nomura – 15 April 2008 – Early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) greatly improves its prognosis. However, the distinction between benign and malignant tumors is often difficult, and novel immunohistochemical markers are necessary.

Laurie D. DeLeve, Xiangdong Wang, Yumei Guo – 11 April 2008 – Capillarization precedes hepatic fibrosis. We hypothesize that capillarization of sinusoidal endothelial cells (SEC) is permissive for hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and therefore permissive for fibrosis. We examined whether freshly isolated SECs prevent activation of HSCs and promote reversion to quiescence, and whether this effect was lost in capillarization. HSCs were cultured alone or co‐cultured with differentiated or capillarized SECs.

Gin‐Ho Lo, Wen‐Chi Chen, Chiun‐Ku Lin, Wei‐Lun Tsai, Hoi‐Hung Chan, Tai‐An Chen, Hsien‐Chung Yu, Ping‐I Hsu, Kwok‐Hung Lai – 11 April 2008 – Both medical therapy and endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) have proven to be comparable in the prevention of variceal rebleeding. However, the long‐term results are still lacking. Our previous study enrolled 121 patients with history of esophageal variceal bleeding and randomized to receive EVL (EVL group, 60 patients) or drug therapy, nadolol plus isosorbide‐5‐mononitrate (N+I) (N+I group, 61 patients) to prevent variceal rebleeding.

Ahmed Zaid, Anna Roubtsova, Rachid Essalmani, Jadwiga Marcinkiewicz, Ann Chamberland, Josée Hamelin, Michel Tremblay, Hélène Jacques, Weijun Jin, Jean Davignon, Nabil G. Seidah, Annik Prat – 11 April 2008 – The gene encoding the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is linked to familial hypercholesterolemia, as are those of the low‐density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and apolipoprotein B. PCSK9 enhances LDLR degradation, resulting in low‐density lipoprotein accumulation in plasma.

David van der Poorten, Kerry‐Lee Milner, Jason Hui, Alexander Hodge, Michael I. Trenell, James G. Kench, Roslyn London, Tony Peduto, Donald J. Chisholm, Jacob George – 11 April 2008 – Visceral obesity is intimately associated with metabolic disease and adverse health outcomes. However, a direct association between increasing amounts of visceral fat and end‐organ inflammation and scarring has not been demonstrated.

Ze‐Zhou Song – 11 April 2008

Bo Kyung Kim, Seoung Ok Lim, Yun Gyu Park – 11 April 2008 – The cyclic adenosine monophosphate–response element (CRE)‐transcription factor complex participates in the regulation of viral gene expression and pathologic processes caused by various viruses. The hepatitis B virus (HBV) enhancer I directs liver‐specific transcription of viral genes and contains a CRE sequence (HBV‐CRE); however, whether the HBV‐CRE and CRE‐binding protein (CREB) are required for the HBV life cycle remains to be determined.

Tito Livraghi – 7 April 2008

Yun Ku Cho, Jae Kyun Kim – 7 April 2008