Chun Tao Wai, Chi‐Jen Chu, Munira Hussain, Anna S. F. Lok – 7 March 2007 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype and precore/core promoter mutations have been implicated in spontaneous and interferon alfa (IFN‐α)—related hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion. We performed a retrospective analysis of a previously reported randomized controlled trial to determine the effects of HBV genotype and precore/core promoter mutations on IFN‐α response in patients with HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis. Clinical data and stored sera from 109 (95%) patients in the original trial were analyzed.

Tamie Nakajima, Yuji Kamijo, Naoki Tanaka, Eiko Sugiyama, Eiji Tanaka, Kendo Kiyosawa, Yoshimitsu Fukushima, Jeffrey M. Peters, Frank J. Gonzalez, Toshifumi Aoyama – 7 March 2007 – The mechanisms underlying alcoholic liver disease are not completely understood, but lipid accumulation seems to be central to the cause of this disease. The peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor α (PPARα) plays an important role in the control of lipid homeostasis, metabolism of bioactive molecules, and modulation of inflammatory responses.

Nadia Gorman, Heidi W. Trask, William J. Bement, Juliana G. Szakacs, George H. Elder, Dominic Balestra, Nicholas J. Jacobs, Judith M. Jacobs, Jacqueline F. Sinclair, Glenn S. Gerhard, Peter R. Sinclair Ph.D. – 7 March 2007 – Two major risk factors for porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) are alcohol consumption and homozygosity for the C282Y mutation in the hereditary hemochromatosis gene (HFE). We recently described an animal model for alcohol‐induced uroporphyria, using Hfe(–/–) mice. In the present study we show that this effect is dependent on genetic background and ethanol dose.

Søren Møller, Annette Nørgaard, Jens H. Henriksen, Erik Frandsen, Flemming Bendtsen – 7 March 2007 – Patients with cirrhosis have a hyperdynamic circulation and an abnormal blood volume distribution with central hypovolemia, an activated sympathetic nervous system (SNS) as well as the renin‐angiotensin‐aldosterone system (RAAS). As the hyperdynamic circulation in cirrhosis may be present only in the supine patient, we studied the humoral and central hemodynamic responses to changes with posture.

Adrian Reuben – 7 March 2007

Abdul Rahman Aljebreen, Marc Deschěnes, Les Lilly, Peter Metrakos – 7 March 2007

Filip Braet, Robin Fraser, Robert S. McCuskey – 7 March 2007

Irene Oi‐Lin Ng, Kok‐Lung Chan, Wai‐Hung Shek, Joyce Man‐Fong Lee, Daniel Yee‐Tak Fong, Chung‐Mau Lo, Sheung‐Tat Fan – 7 March 2007 – Recent studies have shown that primitive stem cells can mobilize and differentiate into hepatocytes. We investigated the time and extent in which cells of recipient origins could differentiate into hepatocytes and other cells in human liver allografts. Microsatellite analysis, which can assess quantitatively the proportions of recipient and donor DNA, was performed in posttransplantation liver biopsy specimens from 17 patients at various times.

Marco Bertolotti, Lisa Zambianchi, Lucia Carulli, Maria Sole Simonini, Marina Del Puppo, Marzia Galli Kienle, Paola Loria, Adriano Pinetti, Nicola Carulli – 7 March 2007 – The effects of newly synthesized cholesterol availability on bile acid synthesis are largely unknown, particularly in humans. The present study was aimed to study the changes induced on bile acid synthesis by simvastatin, a competitive inhibitor of hydroxymethyl glutaryl‐CoA (HMG‐CoA) reductase, the rate‐limiting enzyme of cholesterol synthesis, during pharmacologic interruption of the enterohepatic circulation.

Ewa Ellis, Magnus Axelson, Anna Abrahamsson, Gösta Eggertsen, Anders Thörne,, Grzegorz Nowak, Bo‐Göran Ericzon, Ingemar Björkhem,, Curt Einarsson – 7 March 2007 – Primary human hepatocytes were used to elucidate the effect of individual bile acids on bile acid formation in human liver. Hepatocytes were treated with free as well as glycine‐conjugated bile acids. Bile acid formation and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of key enzymes and the nuclear receptor short heterodimer partner (SHP) were measured after 24 hours.