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.

Jose L. del Pozo, Jose Ignacio Herrero, Andrea Manubens, Emilio Garcia‐Quetglas, Jose Ramon Yuste, Matias Alfonso, Jose Leiva, Jorge Quiroga, Jose Ramon Azanza – 30 January 2008

James D. Perkins – 30 January 2008

Sarwa Darwish Murad, Patrick S. Kamath – 30 January 2008

Jacob Alexander, James D. Lord, Matthew M. Yeh, Carlos Cuevas, Ramasamy Bakthavatsalam, Kris V. Kowdley – 30 January 2008 – Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is the only effective treatment for end‐stage liver disease due to primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Recurrence of PSC has recently emerged as a leading cause of allograft failure in the long term. There is limited data on risk factors for recurrence of PSC. We performed a retrospective analysis of 69 consecutive patients who underwent a first OLT for PSC over a 14‐year period.