Mina Komuta, Bart Spee, Sara Vander Borght, Rita De Vos, Chris Verslype, Raymond Aerts, Hirohisa Yano, Tetsuya Suzuki, Masanori Matsuda, Hideki Fujii, Valeer J. Desmet, Masamichi Kojiro, Tania Roskams – 29 January 2008 – Cholangiolocellular carcinoma (CLC), a subtype of cholangiocellular carcinoma (CC), is thought to originate from the ductules/canals of Hering, where hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) are located. We investigated the clinicopathological features of 30 CLCs and their relationship to HPCs.

Sanaa M. Kamal, Imad A. Nasser – 28 January 2008 – Hepatitis C virus genotype 4 (HCV‐4) is the most common variant of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the Middle East and Africa, particularly Egypt. This region has the highest prevelance of HCV worldwide, with more than 90% of infections due to genotype 4. HCV‐4 has recently spread in several Western countries, particularly in Europe, due to variations in population structure, immigration, and routes of transmission. The features of HCV‐4 infection and the appropriate therapeutic regimen have not been well characterized.

Stefano Bellentani, Riccardo Dalle Grave, Alessandro Suppini, Giulio Marchesini, Fatty Liver Italian Network (FLIN) – 26 January 2008 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is systematically associated with insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, where behavior therapy remains the primary treatment, simultaneously addressing all the clinical and biochemical defects.

M. Eric Gershwin, Ian R. Mackay – 26 January 2008 – The most difficult issue in autoimmunity remains etiology. Although data exist on effector mechanisms in many autoimmune diseases, the underlying cause or causes are still generically ascribed to genetics and environmental influences. Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is considered a model autoimmune disease because of its signature antimitochondrial autoantibody (AMA), the homogeneity of clinical characteristics, and the specificity of biliary epithelial cell (BEC) pathology.

Ching‐Sheng Hsu, Jia‐Horng Kao – 26 January 2008

Zhiping Li – 26 January 2008

26 January 2008

Atsushi Umemura, Yoshito Itoh, Katsuhiko Itoh, Kanji Yamaguchi, Tomoki Nakajima, Hiroaki Higashitsuji, Hitoshi Onoue, Manabu Fukumoto, Takeshi Okanoue, Jun Fujita – 26 January 2008 – Gankyrin (also known as PSMD10) is a liver oncoprotein that interacts with multiple proteins including MDM2 and accelerates degradation of the tumor suppressors p53 and Rb. We produced a monoclonal anti‐gankyrin antibody and immunohistochemically assessed the clinicopathological significance of gankyrin overexpression in 43 specimens of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Brian D. Juran, Elizabeth J. Atkinson, Erik M. Schlicht, Brooke L. Fridley, Gloria M. Petersen, Konstantinos N. Lazaridis – 26 January 2008 – Autoimmune diseases such as primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) result from failure in the immune mechanisms that establish and maintain self‐tolerance. Evidence suggests that these processes are shared among the spectrum of autoimmune syndromes and are likely genetically determined.

Abdurrahman Sagir, Andreas Erhardt, Marcus Schmitt, Dieter Häussinger – 26 January 2008 – Transient elastography [FibroScan (FS)] is a rapid, noninvasive, and reproducible method for measuring liver stiffness, which correlates with the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis. Whether FS is useful in the detection of preexisting liver fibrosis/cirrhosis in patients presenting with acute liver damage is unclear. Patients with acute liver damage of different etiologies were analyzed.