Guilherme M. Campos, Kiran Bambha, Eric Vittinghoff, Charlotte Rabl, Andrew M. Posselt, Ruxandra Ciovica, Umesh Tiwari, Linda Ferrel, Mark Pabst, Nathan M. Bass, Raphael B. Merriman – 31 January 2008 – Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is common in morbidly obese persons. Liver biopsy is diagnostic but technically challenging in such individuals. This study was undertaken to develop a clinically useful scoring system to predict the probability of NASH in morbidly obese persons, thus assisting in the decision to perform liver biopsy.

Xudong Wu, Luyong Zhang, Emily Gurley, Elaine Studer, Jing Shang, Tao Wang, Cuifen Wang, Ming Yan, Zhenzhou Jiang, Phillip B. Hylemon, Arun J. Sanyal, William M. Pandak, Huiping Zhou – 31 January 2008 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease and affects millions of people worldwide. Despite the increasing prevalence of NAFLD, the exact molecular/cellular mechanisms remain obscure and effective therapeutic strategies are still limited. It is well‐accepted that free fatty acid (FFA)‐induced lipotoxicity plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD.

Christoph Neumann‐Haefelin, Jörg Timm, Hans Christian Spangenberg, Natalie Wischniowski, Natalja Nazarova, Nadine Kersting, Michael Roggendorf, Todd M. Allen, Hubert E. Blum, Robert Thimme – 31 January 2008 – Virus‐specific CD8+ T‐cells play an important role in the outcome of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In the chronic phase, however, HCV can persist despite the presence of virus‐specific T‐cell responses.

Terumi Takahara, Feng Xue, Massimiliano Mazzone, Yutaka Yata, Kazunobu Nonome, Masami Kanayama, Kengo Kawai, Alberto M. Pisacane, Shiro Takahara, Xiao‐Kang Li, Paolo M. Comoglio, Toshiro Sugiyama, Paolo Michieli – 31 January 2008 – Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is the most powerful hepatotrophic factor identified so far. However, the ability of HGF to promote tumor cell “scattering” and invasion raises some concern about its therapeutic safety.

Thomas Vanwolleghem, Jens Bukh, Philip Meuleman, Isabelle Desombere, Jean‐Christophe Meunier, Harvey Alter, Robert H. Purcell, Geert Leroux‐Roels – 31 January 2008 – The role of the humoral immune response in the natural course of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is widely debated. Most chronically infected patients have immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies capable of neutralizing HCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp) in vitro. It is, however, not clear whether these IgG can prevent a de novo HCV infection in vivo and contribute to the control of viremia in infected individuals.

Shujing Liu, Mei Yu, Ying He, Lin Xiao, Fang Wang, Changcheng Song, Shuhan Sun, Changquan Ling, Zhiheng Xu – 31 January 2008 – Melittin, a water‐soluble toxic peptide derived from bee venom of Apis mellifera was reported to have inhibitory effects on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its role in antimetastasis and the underlying mechanism remains elusive.

Aymin Delgado‐Borrego, Yun‐Sheen Liu, Sergio H. Jordan, Saurabh Agrawal, Hui Zhang, Marielle Christofi, Deborah Casson, A. Benedict Cosimi, Raymond T. Chung – 30 January 2008 – An association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and insulin resistance (IR) has been recently reported. However, causality has not been established. The cross‐sectional nature of most reported studies and varying degrees of fibrosis have limited definitive conclusions about the independent role of HCV in development of IR.

Frank Ulrich, Johann Pratschke, Ulf Neumann, Andreas Pascher, Gero Puhl, Peter Fellmer, Sascha Weiss, Sven Jonas, Peter Neuhaus – 30 January 2008 – The long‐term results of liver transplantation for Budd‐Chiari syndrome (BCS) and timely indication for the procedure are still under debate. Innovations in interventional therapy and better understanding of underlying diseases have improved therapy strategies. The aim of this study was the analysis of patient and disease characteristics, outcome, and specific complications.

Sheldon C. Cooper, Simon P. Olliff, Ian McCafferty, Stephen J. Wigmore, Darius F. Mirza – 30 January 2008 – This unique case reports the first recorded episode in the medical literature of vasculitis post‐liver transplantation, presenting as life‐threatening gastrointestinal hemorrhage. A 52‐year‐old Caucasian woman underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for autoimmune cirrhosis complicated by hepatoma and portal vein thrombosis. Late hepatic artery thrombosis led to a second liver graft.

Elizabeth J. Carey, Manjushree Gautam, Timothy Ingall, David D. Douglas – 30 January 2008 – Autonomic dysfunction is a recognized complication of end‐stage liver disease (ESLD), but there is little information on how liver transplantation (LT) affects this problem. We sought to prospectively evaluate autonomic function in patients with ESLD before and after LT. Autonomic reflex screen (ARS) was performed on 30 patients with ESLD prior to transplantation. A 10‐point composite autonomic score (CAS) was calculated from these data.