Ali Mencin, Ekihiro Seki, Yosuke Osawa, Yuzo Kodama, Samuele De Minicis, Michael Knowles, David A. Brenner – 29 October 2007 – Alpha‐1 antitrypsin (α1‐AT) deficiency is the most common genetic cause of liver disease in children. The homozygous α1‐ATZ mutation (PiZZ) results in significant liver disease in 10% of all affected patients. The α1‐ATZ mutation also may lead to worse liver injury in the setting of other liver diseases such as cystic fibrosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and hepatitis C.

Tae Hoon Lee, Nilay Shah, Rachel A. Pedersen, Walter K. Kremers, Charles B. Rosen, Goran B. Klintmalm, W. Ray Kim – 29 October 2007 – Previous analyses have reported that minority patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) have poorer survival than Caucasian recipients. The reason for this disparity is unclear. We examined whether racial differences in survival exist at select academic OLT centers. OLT recipients from 4 academic centers were prospectively enrolled in 2 multicenter databases.

Savino Bruno, Andrea Crosignani, Patrick Maisonneuve, Sonia Rossi, Enrico Silini, Mario U. Mondelli – 29 October 2007 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent cause of death in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)–induced cirrhosis. Despite a number of studies in different populations worldwide suggesting an association between HCV genotype 1 and the risk of HCC, no consensus has emerged yet on this matter, which is still controversial.

John G. McHutchison, Bruce R. Bacon, Stuart C. Gordon, Eric Lawitz, Mitchell Shiffman, Nezam H. Afdhal, Ira M. Jacobson, Andrew Muir, Mohammed Al‐Adhami, Mary L. Morris, Julie A. Lekstrom‐Himes, Susan M. Efler, Heather L. Davis – 29 October 2007 – CPG 10101, a synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN), is a toll‐like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist with antiviral and immunomodulatory properties that could potentially influence chronic infection with HCV.

James D. Perkins – 29 October 2007

Jawad Ahmad, Kathy K. Downey, Mohamed Akoad, Thomas V. Cacciarelli – 29 October 2007 – Organ allocation for liver transplantation (LT) in the United States is based on the Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score. The MELD score prioritizes organ distribution to sicker patients. There is limited data on the effect of this policy on transplantation in the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of the MELD score on U.S. veteran patients undergoing LT.

Vanessa Stadlbauer, Nathan A. Davies, Gavin A.K. Wright, Rajeshwar P. Mookerjee, Rajiv Jalan – 29 October 2007

Goran B.G. Klintmalm, W. Kenneth Washburn, Steven M. Rudich, Thomas G. Heffron, Lewis W. Teperman, Carlos Fasola, Devin E. Eckhoff, George J. Netto, Eliezer Katz – 29 October 2007 – This work is a 1‐yr interim analysis of a prospective, randomized, multicenter trial evaluating the effect of corticosteroid‐free immunosuppression on hepatitis C virus–positive (HCV+) liver transplant recipients following liver transplantation (LT).

Donna Beer Stolz, Mark A. Ross, Atsushi Ikeda, Koji Tomiyama, Takashi Kaizu, David A. Geller, Noriko Murase – 29 October 2007 – We evaluated the kinetics by which rat liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) are repopulated in the reperfused transplanted liver after 18 hours of cold ischemic storage. We found that the majority of LSECs in livers cold‐stored for 18 hours in University of Wisconsin solution are seriously compromised and often are retracted before transplantation.

Azuma Watanabe, Ardeshir Hashmi, Dawidson Assis Gomes, Terrence Town, Abdallah Badou, Richard Anthony Flavell, Wajahat Zafar Mehal – 29 October 2007 – Apoptosis of hepatocytes results in the development of liver fibrosis, but the molecular signals mediating this are poorly understood. Degradation and modification of nuclear DNA is a central feature of apoptosis, and DNA from apoptotic mammalian cells is known to activate immune cells via Toll‐like receptor 9 (TLR9). We tested if DNA from apoptotic hepatocytes can induce hepatic stellate cell (HSC) differentiation.