Takashi Ebihara, Masashi Shingai, Misako Matsumoto, Takaji Wakita, Tsukasa Seya – 20 June 2008 – Dendritic cell maturation critically modulates antiviral immune responses, and facilitates viral clearance. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is characterized by its high predisposition to persistent infection. Here, we examined the immune response of human monocyte‐derived dendritic cells (MoDCs) to the JFH1 strain of HCV, which can efficiently replicate in cell culture. However, neither HCV RNA replication nor antigen production was detected in MoDCs inoculated with JFH1.

Maria A. Gonzalez‐Carmona, Veronika Lukacs‐Kornek, Anne Timmerman, Sara Shabani, Miroslaw Kornek, Annabelle Vogt, Yildiz Yildiz, Elisabeth Sievers, Ingo G.H. Schmidt‐Wolf, Wolfgang H. Caselmann, Tilman Sauerbruch, Volker Schmitz – 20 June 2008 – Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen‐presenting cells able to prime T‐cells against tumor‐associated antigens (TAA), but their potential to induce hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) regression is still limited. CD40/CD40L interaction is essential for DC activation and induction of antigen‐specific T‐cells.

Ahmed El‐Shamy, Motoko Nagano‐Fujii, Noriko Sasase, Susumu Imoto, Soo‐Ryang Kim, Hak Hotta – 20 June 2008 – A substantial proportion of hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐1b–infected patients still do not respond to interferon‐based therapy. This study aims to explore a predictive marker for the ultimate virological response of HCV‐1b–infected patients treated with pegylated interferon/ribavirin (PEG‐IFN/RBV) combination therapy. Nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A) sequences of HCV in the pretreated sera of 45 patients infected with HCV‐1b were analyzed.

J.T. Wells, J.R. Runo, M.R. Lucey – 20 June 2008

Tram N.Q. Pham, Tomasz I. Michalak – 20 June 2008

Massimo Pinzani, Umberto Arena, Francesco Vizzutti – 20 June 2008

Julie R. Jonsson, Helen D. Barrie, Peter O'Rourke, Andrew D. Clouston, Elizabeth E. Powell – 20 June 2008 – Obesity and fatty liver are commonly observed among patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and are risk factors for increased hepatic fibrosis. Obesity is accompanied by a low‐grade, chronic inflammatory response that may contribute to pathogenesis of obesity‐related comorbidities.

Valerio Nobili, Melania Manco, Rita Devito, Vincenzo Di Ciommo, Donatella Comparcola, Maria Rita Sartorelli, Fiorella Piemonte, Matilde Marcellini, Paul Angulo – 20 June 2008 – No proven treatment exists for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children and adolescents. We sought to determine the efficacy of lifestyle intervention with or without antioxidant therapy in pediatric NAFLD. A total of 53 patients (age 5.7‐18.8 years, 37 boys) were included.

Masafumi Uno, Seiichiro Kurita, Hirofumi Misu, Hitoshi Ando, Tsuguhito Ota, Naoto Matsuzawa‐Nagata, Yuki Kita, Satoko Nabemoto, Hiroshi Akahori, Yoh Zen, Yasuni Nakanuma, Shuichi Kaneko, Toshinari Takamura – 20 June 2008 – Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the progressive form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and is one of the most common liver diseases in the developed world. The histological findings of NASH are characterized by hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis. However, an optimal treatment for NASH has not been established.

Motoko Sasaki, Hiroko Ikeda, Junpei Yamaguchi, Satoko Nakada, Yasuni Nakanuma – 20 June 2008 – Telomere shortening is a trigger of cellular senescence. Biliary epithelial cells in damaged small bile ducts in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) show senescent features such as the expression of senescence‐associated β‐galactosidase and the increased expression of p16INK4a and p21WAF1/Cip1. We investigated whether the telomere shortening is involved in the pathogenesis of biliary cellular senescence in PBC.