Thomas Decaens, Cécile Godard, Aurélien de Reyniès, David S. Rickman, François Tronche, Jean‐Pierre Couty, Christine Perret, Sabine Colnot – 26 December 2007 – During hepatogenesis, after the liver has budded out of the endoderm, the hepatoblasts quickly expand and differentiate into either hepatocytes or biliary cells, the latter of which arise only within the ductal plate surrounding the portal vein.

Sally Chappell, Nedim Hadzic, Robert Stockley, Tamar Guetta‐Baranes, Kevin Morgan, Noor Kalsheker – 26 December 2007 – Alpha1‐antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) due to homozygosity of the protease inhibitor (Pi) Z variant predisposes to childhood liver disease and pulmonary emphysema. About 10% of all neonates with AATD develop liver disease, and about 3% overall progress to severe disease. AATD is a principal genetic indication for liver transplantation in children.

Yao‐Ming Wu, Brigid Joseph, Ekaterine Berishvili, Vinay Kumaran, Sanjeev Gupta – 26 December 2007 – The potential for organ damage after using drugs or chemicals is a critical issue in medicine. To delineate mechanisms of drug‐induced hepatic injury, we used transplanted cells as reporters in dipeptidyl peptidase IV–deficient mice. These mice were given phenytoin and rifampicin for 3 days, after which monocrotaline was given followed 1 day later by intrasplenic transplantation of healthy C57BL/6 mouse hepatocytes.

Anna V. Longacre, Avlin Imaeda, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Liana Fraenkel – 26 December 2007 – Endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) and nonselective beta‐blockers (hereafter just called beta‐blockers) are both effective for primary prophylaxis for variceal hemorrhage; however, the route of administration and side effects of these treatments are distinct. The objective of this study was to examine predicted preferences of patients and physicians for the primary prevention of variceal hemorrhage.

Coen C. Paulusma, Dineke E. Folmer, Kam S. Ho‐Mok, D. Rudi de Waart, Petra M. Hilarius, Arthur J. Verhoeven, Ronald P. J. Oude Elferink – 26 December 2007 – Mutations in ATP8B1 cause progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 1 and benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis type 1. Previously, we have shown in mice that Atp8b1 deficiency leads to enhanced biliary excretion of phosphatidylserine, and we hypothesized that ATP8B1 is a flippase for phosphatidylserine. However, direct evidence for this function is still lacking.

Philippe Nourissat, Marion Travert, Martine Chevanne, Xavier Tekpli, Amélie Rebillard, Gwenaelle Le Moigne‐Müller, Mary Rissel, Josiane Cillard, Marie‐Thérèse Dimanche‐Boitrel, Dominique Lagadic‐Gossmann, Odile Sergent – 26 December 2007 – The role of the hepatocyte plasma membrane structure in the development of oxidative stress during alcoholic liver diseases is not yet fully understood. Previously, we have established the pivotal role of membrane fluidity in ethanol‐induced oxidative stress, but no study has so far tested the involvement of lipid rafts.

Phunchai Charatcharoenwitthaya, Paul Angulo, Felicity B. Enders, Keith D. Lindor – 26 December 2007 – A longitudinal, cohort study was performed to characterize the clinical features of patients with small‐duct primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) occurring with and without inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and to determine the influence of IBD and the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) therapy on the course of the liver disease. Forty‐two patients with small‐duct PSC (14 women and 28 men; mean age, 36.7 ± 13.3 years) were followed for up to 24.9 years.

Espen Melum, Tom H. Karlsen, Erik Schrumpf, Annika Bergquist, Erik Thorsby, Kirsten M. Boberg, Benedicte A. Lie – 26 December 2007 – Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is often complicated by the development of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Genetic variation of natural killer cell receptor G2D (NKG2D) has been associated with cancer susceptibility. An important ligand for NKG2D, major histocompatibility complex class I chain‐related molecule A (MICA), serves as a marker of cellular stress. The 5.1 allele of the gene encoding MICA has been associated with PSC.

Udayan Apte, Michael D. Thompson, Shanshan Cui, Bowen Liu, Benjamin Cieply, Satdarshan P. S. Monga – 26 December 2007 – Adult hepatic stem cells or oval cells are facultative stem cells in the liver that are activated during regeneration only during inhibition of innate hepatocyte proliferation. On the basis of its involvement in liver cancer, regeneration, and development, we investigated the role of the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway in oval cell response, which was initiated in male Fisher rats with 2‐acetylaminofluorine and two‐third partial hepatectomy (PHX).

Brenda J. Olivier, Ton Schoenmaker, Reina E. Mebius, Vincent Everts, Chris J. Mulder, Karin M. J. van Nieuwkerk, Teun J. de Vries, Schalk W. van der Merwe – 26 December 2007 – Osteoporosis is a common complication of chronic liver disease, and the underlying mechanisms are not understood. We aimed to determine if osteoclasts develop from osteoclast precursors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of chronic liver disease patients with osteopenia compared with controls.