Christopher J.E. Watson, Alexander E.S. Gimson, Graeme J. Alexander, Michael E.D. Allison, Paul Gibbs, Jane C. Smith, Christopher R. Palmer, J. Andrew Bradley – 28 November 2007 – Renal impairment is common in patients after liver transplantation and is attributable in large part to the use of calcineurin inhibitor (CNI)‐based immunosuppression. We sought to determine whether conversion to sirolimus‐based immunosuppression was associated with improved renal function.

Dominique Thabut, Khalid A. Tazi, Dominique Bonnefont‐Rousselot, Maria Aller, Olivier Farges, Marie‐Christine Guimont, Zera Tellier, Cecile Guichard, Eric Ogier‐Denis, Thierry Poynard, Richard Moreau, Didier Lebrec – 28 November 2007 – In patients with cirrhosis, endotoxic shock is a major complication of portal hypertension, which is related partly to intrahepatic endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) down‐regulation.

Christopher Rose, Lars M. Ytrebø, Nathan A. Davies, Sambit Sen, Geir I. Nedredal, Mireille Belanger, Arthur Revhaug, Rajiv Jalan – 28 November 2007 – We previously demonstrated in pigs with acute liver failure (ALF) that albumin dialysis using the molecular adsorbents recirculating system (MARS) attenuated a rise in intracranial pressure (ICP). This was independent of changes in arterial ammonia, cerebral blood flow and inflammation, allowing alternative hypotheses to be tested.

Anne‐Kathrin Peyer, Diana Jung, Markus Beer, Carmela Gnerre, Adrian Keogh, Deborah Stroka, Mihaela Zavolan, Urs‐A. Meyer – 28 November 2007 – Aminolevulinic acid synthase 1 (ALAS1) is the rate‐limiting enzyme of heme synthesis in the liver and is highly regulated to adapt to the metabolic demand of the hepatocyte. In the present study, we describe human hepatic ALAS1 as a new direct target of the bile acid–activated nuclear receptor farnesoid X receptor (FXR).

Duygu Dee Harrison‐Findik, Elizabeth Klein, Callie Crist, John Evans, Nikolai Timchenko, John Gollan – 28 November 2007 – Alcohol reduces and iron increases liver hepcidin synthesis. This study investigates the interaction of alcohol and iron in the regulation of hepcidin messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in animal models. Mice were administered 10% ethanol for 7 days after an iron‐overloaded diet. Rats were administered regular or ethanol‐Lieber De Carli diets for 7 weeks with or without carbonyl iron. Hfe−/− mice were used as a model for genetic iron overload.

David Van der Poorten, Dianna T. Kenny, Tony Butler, Jacob George – 28 November 2007 – Little is known about the health and behavior of adolescent offenders as they relate to abnormalities of liver biochemistry and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. A large study of male juvenile offenders was undertaken that allowed a re‐evaluation of the normal limits of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), associations with elevated ALT, and HCV antibody positivity.

Kazuaki Inoue, Tsunamasa Watanabe, Makoto Yoshiba, Michinori Kohara – 28 November 2007

Dorry L. Segev, Warren R. Maley, Christopher E. Simpkins, Jayme E. Locke, Geoffrey C. Nguyen, Robert A. Montgomery, Paul J. Thuluvath – 28 November 2007 – Elderly liver donors (ELDs) represent a possible expansion of the donor pool, although there is great reluctance to use ELDs because of reports that increasing donor age predicts graft loss and patient death. The goal of this study was to identify a subgroup of recipients who would be least affected by increased donor age and thus best suited to receive grafts from ELDs.

Carlo Bergamini, Concetta Sgarra, Paolo Trerotoli, Luigi Lupo, Amalia Azzariti, Salvatore Antonaci, Gianluigi Giannelli – 28 November 2007 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) growth severely affects prognosis. Ki‐67, a known marker of cell proliferation, is a negative prognostic factor in HCC. Growth factors such as the epidermal growth factor (EGF) induce HCC cell proliferation but do not explain the great heterogeneity of HCC growth. Laminin‐5 (Ln‐5) is an extracellular matrix protein (ECM) present in the tissue microenvironment of HCC.

Peter Ferenci, Ludwig Kramer – 28 November 2007