Dar‐In Tai, Shi‐Ming Lin, I‐Shyan Sheen, Chia‐Ming Chu, Deng‐Yn Lin, Yun‐Fan Liaw – 28 May 2009 – The baseline alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level was reported to have prognostic value in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, during which ALT may change over time. Instead of baseline ALT, this study aimed to study the prognostic value of the height of ALT during the course of chronic HBV infection.

Shannon S. Glaser, Gianfranco Alpini – 28 May 2009

Zigmund Luka, M. Luz Martínez‐Chantar, Shelly C. Lu, Conrad Wager, José M. Mato – 28 May 2009

Emilio Fábrega, Marcos López‐Hoyos, David San Segundo, Fernando Casafont, Fernando Pons‐Romero – 28 May 2009 – Interleukin‐23 (IL‐23) and T helper 17 (Th17) cells have been cast as major players in autoimmunity, but their role in transplantation immunity remains to be specified. The aim of our study was to investigate the time course of serum levels of IL‐23 and IL‐17 during hepatic allograft rejection. Serum levels of IL‐23 and IL‐17 were determined in 20 healthy subjects and 50 hepatic transplant recipients.

Rosa Ayala, Silvia Grande, Enriqueta Albizua, Almudena Crooke, Juan Carlos Meneu, Almudena Moreno, Baltasar Pérez, Florinda Gilsanz, Enrique Moreno, Joaquín Martínez‐Lopez – 28 May 2009 – We aimed to quantify peripheral donor chimerism (DC) and to analyze its association with graft and recipient outcome. Forty‐two liver transplant recipients and their respective donors were studied, providing a total of 148 posttransplantation serum samples. DC was assessed with real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to detect polymorphic markers.

Olav A. Gressner, Birgit Lahme, Monika Siluschek, Katharina Rehbein, Ralf Weiskirchen, Axel M. Gressner – 28 May 2009 – In vivo knockdown of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) was recently shown to attenuate the formation of experimental liver fibrosis.

Giada Sebastiani, Philippe Halfon, Laurent Castera, Stanislas Pol, David L. Thomas, Alessandra Mangia, Vito Di Marco, Mario Pirisi, Mihai Voiculescu, Maria Guido, Marc Bourliere, Franco Noventa, Alfredo Alberti – 28 May 2009 – The staging of liver fibrosis is pivotal for defining the prognosis and indications for therapy in hepatitis C. Although liver biopsy remains the gold standard, several noninvasive methods are under evaluation for clinical use.

Ryota Masuzaki, Ryosuke Tateishi, Haruhiko Yoshida, Eriko Goto, Takahisa Sato, Takamasa Ohki, Jun Imamura, Tadashi Goto, Fumihiko Kanai, Naoya Kato, Hitoshi Ikeda, Shuichiro Shiina, Takao Kawabe, Masao Omata – 28 May 2009 – Liver stiffness, noninvasively measured by transient elastography, correlates well with liver fibrosis stage. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the liver stiffness measurement (LSM) as a predictor of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development among patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Bruce R. Bacon, Mitchell L. Shiffman, Flavia Mendes, Reem Ghalib, Tarek Hassanein, Giuseppe Morelli, Shobha Joshi, Kenneth Rothstein, Paul Kwo, Norman Gitlin – 28 May 2009 – Up to 50% of patients with chronic hepatitis C fail to respond to initial therapy with pegylated interferon (PEG‐IFN) and ribavirin (RBV). With unsuccessful viral eradication, these patients remain at risk for developing progression of their liver disease. Retreatment with PEG‐IFN/RBV yields sustained virologic response (SVR) rates that are under 10%.

Feng Hong, Ana Tuyama, Ting Fang Lee, Johnny Loke, Ritu Agarwal, Xin Cheng, Anita Garg, M. Isabel Fiel, Myron Schwartz, Jose Walewski, Andrea Branch, Alison D. Schecter, Meena B. Bansal – 28 May 2009 – Chemokine interactions with their receptors have been implicated in hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation. The hepatic expression of CXCR4 messenger RNA is increased in hepatitis C cirrhotic livers and plasma levels of its endogenous ligand, stromal cell–derived factor‐1α (SDF‐1α), correlate with increased fibrosis in these patients. The expression of CXCR4 by HSCs has not been reported.