Tom P. Theruvath, Zhi Zhong, Peter Pediaditakis, Venkat K. Ramshesh, Robert T. Currin, Andrey Tikunov, Ekhson Holmuhamedov, John J. Lemasters – 26 December 2007 – Graft failure after liver transplantation may involve mitochondrial dysfunction. We examined whether prevention of mitochondrial injury would improve graft function. Orthotopic rat liver transplantation was performed after 18 hours' cold storage in University of Wisconsin solution and treatment with vehicle, minocycline, tetracycline, or N‐methyl‐4‐isoleucine cyclosporin (NIM811) of explants and recipients.

Gianluca Perseghin, Guido Lattuada, Francesco De Cobelli, Antonio Esposito, Elena Belloni, Georgia Ntali, Francesca Ragogna, Tamara Canu, Paola Scifo, Alessandro Del Maschio, Livio Luzi – 26 December 2007 – Fatty liver is characterized by metabolic abnormalities at the liver, but also at skeletal muscle and adipose tissue sites.

Yuan Zhai, Bo Qiao, Feng Gao, Xiuda Shen, Andrew Vardanian, Ronald W. Busuttil, Jerzy W. Kupiec‐Weglinski – 26 December 2007 – We have documented the key role of toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) activation and its signaling pathway mediated by interferon (IFN) regulatory factor 3, in the induction of inflammation leading to the hepatocellular damage during liver ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). Because type I IFN is the major downstream activation product of that pathway, we studied its role in comparison with IFN‐γ.

Florence Wong, Kevin Moore, Jasper Dingemanse, Rajiv Jalan – 26 December 2007 – Renal vasoconstriction is a key factor in the development of hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) and may be secondary to increased activities of endothelin‐1, a potent renal vasoconstrictor.

Weiwei Shan, Christopher J. Nicol, Shinji Ito, Moses T. Bility, Mary J. Kennett, Jerrold M. Ward, Frank J. Gonzalez, Jeffrey M. Peters – 26 December 2007 – Potential functional roles for the peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐β/δ (PPARβ/δ) in skeletal muscle fatty acid catabolism and epithelial carcinogenesis have recently been described. Whereas PPARβ/δ is expressed in liver, its function in this tissue is less clear.

ZhengZheng Li, Michael Berk, Thomas M. McIntyre, Gregory J. Gores, Ariel E. Feldstein – 20 December 2007 – Impaired mitochondrial function is largely thought to be a core abnormality responsible for disease progression in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the molecular mechanisms resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction in NAFLD remain poorly understood. This study examined the effects of excessive accumulation of free fatty acids (FFAs) in liver cells on mitochondrial function and the role of the lysosomal‐mitochondrial axis on lipotoxicity.

Cheng‐Hui Hsiao, Mei‐Hwei Chang, Huey‐Ling Chen, Hung‐Chang Lee, Tzee‐Chung Wu, Chieh‐Chung Lin, Yao‐Jong Yang, An‐Chyi Chen, Mao‐Meng Tiao, Beng‐Huat Lau, Chia‐Hsiang Chu, Ming‐Wei Lai – 20 December 2007 – Biliary atresia is the most common cause of death from liver disease in children. Although the Kasai operation before 60 days of age can significantly improve prognosis, delay in referral and surgery remains a formidable problem worldwide because of difficulties in differentiating it from benign prolonged neonatal jaundice.

Flavien Bernardin, Leslie Tobler, Irina Walsh, Joan Dunn Williams, Mike Busch, Eric Delwart – 20 December 2007 – We determined whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA could be detected associated with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of seropositive blood donors who had spontaneously or therapeutically cleared their plasma viremia. Blood donor plasma viremia status was first determined with a highly sensitive transcription‐mediated amplification (TMA) test performed in duplicate assays.

M. Michele Manos, Wendy A. Leyden, Rosemary C. Murphy, Norah A. Terrault, Beth P. Bell – 20 December 2007 – Standard death certificate–based methods for ascertaining deaths due to chronic liver disease (CLD), such as the U.S. vital statistics approach, rely on a limited set of diagnostic codes to define CLD. These codes do not include viral hepatitis or consider hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) deaths, and thus, underestimate the true burden of CLD mortality. Deaths associated with CLD may be further misunderstood because of the inherent limitations of death record information.

Anita C.G. Chua, Carly E. Herbison, Sarah F. Drake, Ross M. Graham, John K. Olynyk, Debbie Trinder – 20 December 2007 – HFE‐related hereditary hemochromatosis results in hepatic iron overload. Hepatocytes acquire transferrin‐bound iron via transferrin receptor (Tfr) 1 and Tfr1‐independent pathways (possibly Tfr2‐mediated). In this study, the role of Hfe in the regulation of hepatic transferrin‐bound iron uptake by these pathways was investigated using Hfe knockout mice.