Chih‐Lin Lin, Chun‐Jen Liu, Jia‐Horng Kao – 24 August 2007

Chee‐Kin Hui, Nancy Leung, Tony W.H. Shek, Hung Yao, Wai‐Ki Lee, Jak‐Yiu Lai, Sik‐To Lai, Wai‐Man Wong, Lawrence SW. Lai, Ronnie T.P. Poon, Chung‐Mau Lo, Sheung‐Tat Fan, George K.K. Lau, Hong Kong Liver Fibrosis Study Group – 24 August 2007 – Recently, controversies have arisen about whether hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion can result in regression of fibrosis, thus improving the clinical outcome of Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Seyed Ali Mousavi, Marita Sporstøl, Cathrine Fladeby, Rune Kjeken, Nicolas Barois, Trond Berg – 24 August 2007 – Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs) display a number of receptors for efficient uptake of potentially injurious molecules. The receptors for the Fc portion of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies (FcγRs) regulate a number of physiological and pathophysiological events. We used reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and Western blotting to determine the expression of different types of FcγRs in LSECs.

James E. Nelson, Renuka Bhattacharya, Keith D. Lindor, Naga Chalasani, Stuart Raaka, E. Jenny Heathcote, Emil Miskovsky, Eldon Shaffer, Stephen J. Rulyak, Kris V. Kowdley – 24 August 2007 – Previous studies examining the relationship between HFE mutations and severity of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) have been limited by small sample size or ascertainment bias. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between HFE mutations and histological severity in a large North American multicenter cohort with NASH.

Abdel Aziz M. Shaheen, Robert P. Myers – 24 August 2007 – The development of noninvasive markers of liver fibrosis is a clinical and research priority. The aspartate aminotransferase‐to‐platelet ratio index (APRI) is a promising tool with limited expense and widespread availability. Our objective was to systematically review the performance of the APRI in hepatitis C virus (HCV)–infected patients.

Fan‐Chen Tseng, Thomas R. O'Brien, Mingdong Zhang, Alex H. Kral, Betty A. Ortiz‐Conde, Jennifer Lorvick, Michael P. Busch, Brian R. Edlin – 24 August 2007 – Previous studies suggest that most injection drug users (IDUs) become infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) soon after initiating drug use. The Urban Health Study (UHS) recruited serial cross‐sections of IDUs in the San Francisco Bay area from 1986 to 2005. In the current study, we determined the prevalence of antibody to HCV and HBV (core) among UHS participants during 1998 to 2000.

David M. Novick, Mary Jeanne Kreek – 24 August 2007

Conny Stumptner, Andrea Fuchsbichler, Kurt Zatloukal, Helmut Denk – 24 August 2007 – Mallory bodies (MBs) and intracellular hyaline bodies (IHBs) are characteristic hepatocellular inclusions. MBs are hallmarks of steatohepatitis, whereas IHBs have first been detected in hepatocellular carcinoma. MBs and IHBs contain ubiquitin and sequestosome 1 / p62 (p62), a stress‐inducible adapter protein with affinity to polyubiquitinated proteins. MBs differ from IHBs by their keratin content and morphology.

Xiaoling Jin, Zongxiu Zhang, Donna Beer‐Stolz, Teresa A. Zimmers, Leonidas G. Koniaris – 24 August 2007 – Extreme hepatectomy or resection of more than 80% of liver mass often leads to liver failure and death and is a major limitation to therapeutic liver resection for patients with liver tumors. We sought to define the mechanisms leading to liver failure and to determine the utility of interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) administration to improve outcomes.

Tara L. Kieffer, Christoph Sarrazin, Janice S. Miller, Martin W. Welker, Nicole Forestier, Hendrik W. Reesink, Ann D. Kwong, Stefan Zeuzem – 24 August 2007 – Telaprevir (VX‐950) is an orally active, specifically targeted antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) that has been shown to profoundly reduce plasma HCV RNA in genotype 1 patients. Using a highly sensitive sequencing assay that detects minor populations of viral variants (≥5%), mutations were identified that conferred low‐level (V36M/A, T54A, or R155K/T) or high‐level (A156V/T and 36/155) resistance to telaprevir in vitro.