Inflammation and hepatic encephalopathy: Ibuprofen restores learning ability in rats with portacaval shunts

Omar Cauli, Regina Rodrigo, Blanca Piedrafita, Jordi Boix, Vicente Felipo – 27 July 2007 – One of the neurological alterations in patients with minimal or overt hepatic encephalopathy is cognitive impairment. This impairment is reproduced in rats with chronic liver failure due to portacaval shunt (PCS). These rats show decreased ability to learn a conditional discrimination task in a Y‐maze, likely due to reduced function of the glutamate–nitric oxide (NO)–cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway in brain.

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 with peginterferon, ribavirin, and epoetin alpha

Mitchell L. Shiffman, Jennifer Salvatore, Sarah Hubbard, Angie Price, Richard K. Sterling, R. Todd Stravitz, Velimir A. Luketic, Arun J. Sanyal – 27 July 2007 – Successful treatment of chronic HCV with peginterferon (PEGIFN) and ribavirin (RVN) is often limited by anemia. We performed the present study to determine if utilizing epoetin alpha (EPO) with or without a higher dose of RVN could enhance sustained virologic response (SVR).

Preferential X chromosome loss but random inactivation characterize primary biliary cirrhosis

Monica Miozzo, Carlo Selmi, Barbara Gentilin, Francesca R. Grati, Silvia Sirchia, Sabine Oertelt, Massimo Zuin, M. Eric Gershwin, Mauro Podda, Pietro Invernizzi – 27 July 2007 – Recent work has demonstrated enhanced X monosomy in women with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) as well as two other female‐predominant autoimmune diseases, systemic sclerosis and autoimmune thyroid disease.

Identification of PFTAIRE protein kinase 1, a novel cell division cycle‐2 related gene, in the motile phenotype of hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Etonia Y‐T. Pang, Alfa H‐C. Bai, Ka‐Fai To, Shirley M‐H. Sy, Navy L‐Y. Wong, Paul B‐S. Lai, Jeremy A. Squire, Nathalie Wong – 27 July 2007 – Metastasis is a major cause of cancer morbidity and mortality in individuals with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), yet little is known about the underlying molecular basis. Using genetic information derived from chromosome‐based comparative genomic hybridization, we have reported previously on regional chromosome 7q21‐q22 gains in close association with HCC progression.

Effects of rosiglitazone on the liver histology and mitochondrial function in ob/ob mice

Inmaculada García‐Ruiz, Cristina Rodríguez‐Juan, Teresa Díaz‐Sanjuán, Miguel Ángel Martínez, Teresa Muñoz‐Yagüe, José A. Solís‐Herruzo – 27 July 2007 – Insulin resistance is present in almost all patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD), and mitochondrial dysfunction likely plays a critical role in the progression of fatty liver into nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Rosiglitazone, a selective ligand of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), is an insulin sensitizer drug that has been used in a number of insulin‐resistant conditions, including NAFLD.

Nuclear factor‐κB and the hepatic inflammation‐fibrosis‐cancer axis

Ahmed M. Elsharkawy, Derek A. Mann – 27 July 2007 – Nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) is a transcriptional regulator of genes involved in immunity, inflammatory response, cell fate, and function. Recent attention has focused on the pathophysiological role of NF‐κB in the diseased liver. In vivo studies using rodent models of liver disease and cell‐targeted perturbation of NF‐κB activity have revealed complex and multicellular functions in hepatic inflammation, fibrosis, and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma—a process we have termed the “inflammation‐fibrosis‐cancer axis”.

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