Takeji Umemura, Yoh Zen, Hideaki Hamano, Shigeyuki Kawa, Yasuni Nakanuma, Kendo Kiyosawa – 27 July 2007 – Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is characterized by high serum immunoglobin (Ig) G4 concentrations, lymphoplasmacytic inflammation, and a favorable response to corticosteroid treatment. Since liver dysfunction is frequently seen in AIP patients, we investigated hepatic histopathology and its clinical significance in patients with AIP.

Joerg Timm, Bin Li, Marcus G. Daniels, Tanmoy Bhattacharya, Laura L. Reyor, Rachel Allgaier, Thomas Kuntzen, Will Fischer, Brian E. Nolan, Jared Duncan, Julian Schulze zur Wiesch, Arthur Y. Kim, Nicole Frahm, Christian Brander, Raymond T. Chung, Georg M. Lauer, Bette T. Korber, Todd M. Allen – 27 July 2007 – CD8+ T cell responses play a key role in governing the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and viral evolution enabling escape from these responses may contribute to the inability to resolve infection.

Francesca Bravi, Cristina Bosetti, Alessandra Tavani, Vincenzo Bagnardi, Silvano Gallus, Eva Negri, Silvia Franceschi, Carlo La Vecchia – 27 July 2007 – Several studies suggest an inverse relation between coffee drinking and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We conducted a meta‐analysis of published studies on HCC that included quantitative information on coffee consumption. Ten studies were retrieved (2,260 HCC cases), including 6 case–control studies from southern Europe and Japan (1551 cases) and 4 cohort studies from Japan (709 cases).

Hugo R. Rosen, Scott J. Weston, KyungAh Im, Huiying Yang, James R. Burton, Henry Erlich, Jared Klarquist, Steven H. Belle, Virahep‐C Study Group – 27 July 2007 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, end‐stage liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma throughout the world. Considerable evidence indicates that the risk of viral persistence, natural history, and response to antiviral therapy varies among racial groups, but limited data exist on potential mechanisms to account for these differences.

Sun‐Young Kong, Joong‐Won Park, Jung An Lee, Jung Eun Park, Kyung Woo Park, Eun Kyung Hong, Chang‐Min Kim – 27 July 2007 – Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in angiogenesis and progression of tumor, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and elevated VEGF levels in serum and tissues have been known to be related with poor prognosis in patients with HCC. However, the effect of such polymorphisms of the VEGF gene on HCC prognosis has not been elucidated.

Anna S.F. Lok, Brian J. McMahon – 27 July 2007

27 July 2007

Arun Sanyal, Nisha Chand – 27 July 2007

Kurt Lenz, Christine Kapral, Fritz Firlinger, Fritz Wewalka – 27 July 2007

Henry L. Y. Chan, Hong Ren, Wan C. Chow, Theodore Wee, Interferon beta‐1a Hepatitis C Study Group – 27 July 2007 – The standard of care for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, pegylated interferon (IFN) alpha plus ribavirin, results in a sustained virologic response (SVR) in approximately 50%‐60% of patients. IFN beta is a potential alternative to IFN alpha. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency and durability of IFN beta and its combination with ribavirin in the naïve setting of chronic hepatitis C in Asian patients.