Irwin M. Arias – 26 February 2008

Rupert Abdalian, Preeti Dhar, Kartik Jhaveri, Masoom Haider, Maha Guindi, E. Jenny Heathcote – 26 February 2008 – Large bile duct injury (that seen on cholangiography) is not usually considered a feature of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in adults but is present in up to 50% of children with AIH. The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of large bile duct abnormalities identified by magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) in adults given a diagnosis of AIH.

Zachary D. Goodman, Hala R. Makhlouf, Lea Liu, William Balistreri, Regino P. Gonzalez‐Peralta, Barbara Haber, Maureen M. Jonas, Parvathi Mohan, Jean P. Molleston, Karen F. Murray, Michael R. Narkewicz, Philip Rosenthal, Lesley J. Smith, Patricia R. Robuck, Kathleen B. Schwarz – 26 February 2008 – There is relatively little information in the literature on the histopathology of chronic hepatitis C in children.

Naoshi Nishida, Takeshi Nagasaka, Takafumi Nishimura, Iwao Ikai, C. Richard Boland, Ajay Goel – 26 February 2008 – Aberrant DNA methylation is an important epigenetic alteration in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the molecular processes underlying the methylator phenotype and the contribution of hepatitis viruses are poorly understood. The current study is a comprehensive methylation analysis of human liver tissue specimens. A total of 176 liver tissues, including 77 pairs of HCCs and matching noncancerous liver and 22 normal livers, were analyzed for methylation.

Johannes Herkel, Ansgar W. Lohse – 26 February 2008

Zhenyuan Song, Zhanxiang Zhou, Ion Deaciuc, Theresa Chen, Craig J. McClain – 26 February 2008 – Although recent evidence suggests that down‐regulation of production of the adipocyte hormone adiponectin has pathophysiological consequences for the development of alcoholic liver disease (ALD), the underlying mechanisms are elusive. Abnormal hepatic methionine‐homocysteine metabolism induced by prolonged alcohol exposure has been reported both in clinical and experimental studies of ALD.

Shinji Shimoda, Kenichi Harada, Hiroaki Niiro, Tomoharu Yoshizumi, Yuji Soejima, Akinobu Taketomi, Yoshihiko Maehara, Koichi Tsuneyama, Minoru Nakamura, Atsumasa Komori, Kiyoshi Migita, Yasuni Nakanuma, Hiromi Ishibashi, Carlo Selmi, M. Eric Gershwin – 26 February 2008 – Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is characterized by the highly selective autoimmune injury of small intrahepatic bile ducts, despite widespread distribution of mitochondrial autoantigens.

Liya Pi, Xiaodong Ding, Marda Jorgensen, Jen‐Jung Pan, Seh‐Hoon Oh, Dana Pintilie, Alicia Brown, Wen‐Yuan Song, Bryon E. Petersen – 26 February 2008 – Oval cell activation, as part of the regenerative process after liver injury, involves considerable cell‐matrix interaction. The matricellular protein, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), has been shown to be critical for oval cell activation during liver regeneration following N‐2‐acetylaminofluorene/partial hepatectomy.

Robert J. Fontana, Zachary D. Goodman, Jules L. Dienstag, Herbert L. Bonkovsky, Deepa Naishadham, Richard K. Sterling, Grace L. Su, Mita Ghosh, Elizabeth C. Wright, HALT‐C Trial Group – 26 February 2008 – This study determined the utility of a panel of serum fibrosis markers along with routine laboratory tests in estimating the likelihood of histological cirrhosis in a cohort of prior nonresponders with chronic hepatitis C. The relationship between serum markers and quantitative hepatic collagen content was also determined.

Richard B. Freeman – 26 February 2008