Fasiha Kanwal, Tuyen Hoang, Brennan M.R. Spiegel, Seth Eisen, Jason A. Dominitz, Allen Gifford, Mathew Goetz, Steven M. Asch – 28 November 2007 – Treatment with interferon and ribavirin is effective in patients with chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Previous data indicate that treatment rates are suboptimal. We sought to identify patient and provider‐level predictors of treatment receipt in HCV by conducting a retrospective cohort study of 5701 HCV patients in a large regional Veteran's Administration (VA) healthcare network.

Marlon F. Levy – 28 November 2007

Mark Davenport, Mark D. Stringer, Sarah A. Tizzard, Patricia McClean, Giorgina Mieli‐Vergani, Nedim Hadzic – 28 November 2007 – The objective of this study was to evaluate adjuvant corticosteroids after Kasai portoenterostomy for biliary atresia. The study consisted of a prospective, 2‐center, double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled trial of post–Kasai portoenterostomy corticosteroids (oral prednisolone: 2 mg/kg/day from day 7 to day 21 and 1 mg/kg/day from day 22 to day 28). The data were compared with χ2 or Mann‐Whitney tests, as appropriate.

Kwang‐Hoon Song, Ewa Ellis, Stephen Strom, John Y.L. Chiang – 28 November 2007 – Bile acid synthesis in the liver is regulated by the rate‐limiting enzyme cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase (CYP7A1). Transcription of the CYP7A1 gene is inhibited by bile acids and cytokines. The rate of bile acid synthesis is reduced immediately after partial hepatectomy and during the early stage of liver regeneration.

Charles E. Rogler, Hong Chou Zhou, Lauretta LeVoci, Leslie E. Rogler – 28 November 2007 – Recent studies have shown a pluripotential nature of stem cells that were previously thought to be committed to specific lineages. HBC‐3 cells are a clonal fetal murine hepatoblast cell line derived from an e9.5 murine embryo, and these cells can be induced to form hepatocytes and bile ducts in vitro and when transplanted into adult mouse livers.

Sònia Tugues, Guillermo Fernandez‐Varo, Javier Muñoz‐Luque, Josefa Ros, Vicente Arroyo, Juan Rodés, Scott L. Friedman, Peter Carmeliet, Wladimiro Jiménez, Manuel Morales‐Ruiz – 28 November 2007 – Liver cirrhosis is a very complex disease in which several pathological processes such as inflammation, fibrosis, and pathological angiogenesis are closely integrated. We hypothesized that treatment with pharmacological agents with multiple mechanisms of action will produce superior results to those achieved by only targeting individual mechanisms.

Sumita Verma, Michael Torbenson, Paul J. Thuluvath – 28 November 2007 – The impact of ethnicity on the natural history of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) has not been well characterized. The aim of this study was to assess the natural history of AIH in blacks in comparison with others (nonblacks). This was a 10‐year (June 1996 to June 2006) retrospective analysis of patients with AIH from a single tertiary care center. The diagnosis of AIH was defined by the criteria established by the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Club.

Rongzhen Xu, Xuzhao Zhang, Wei Zhang, Yongmin Fang, Shu Zheng, Xiao‐Fang Yu – 28 November 2007 – Human APOBEC3 (apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide 3) cytidine deaminases have been shown to be potent inhibitors of diverse retroviruses including Vif‐deficient human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV‐1), hepatitis virus B (HBV), adeno‐associated virus, and endogenous retroelements.

Ziqiu Wang, Lisheng Ge, Meifang Wang, Brian I. Carr – 28 November 2007 – Compound 5 (Cpd 5), a K vitamin analog, has been shown to inhibit Hep3B human hepatoma cell growth in cultures and rat hepatoma growth in vivo through prolonged epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)–extracellular response kinase (ERK) phosphorylation, and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) synergizes with Cpd 5 to enhance the inhibition of Hep3B cell and rat hepatoma growth.

Tomomi Yamazaki, Akiko Nakamori, Eriko Sasaki, Satoshi Wada, Osamu Ezaki – 28 November 2007 – Diets high in sucrose/fructose or fat can result in hepatic steatosis (fatty liver). We analyzed the effects of dietary fish oil on fatty liver induced by sucrose, safflower oil, and butter in ddY mice. In experiment I, mice were fed a high‐starch diet [70 energy% (en%) starch] plus 20% (wt/wt) sucrose in the drinking water or fed a high‐safflower oil diet (60 en%) for 11 weeks. As a control, mice were fed a high‐starch diet with drinking water. Fish oil (10 en%) was either supplemented or not.