The impact of ethnicity on the natural history of autoimmune hepatitis

Sumita Verma, Michael Torbenson, Paul J. Thuluvath – 28 November 2007 – The impact of ethnicity on the natural history of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) has not been well characterized. The aim of this study was to assess the natural history of AIH in blacks in comparison with others (nonblacks). This was a 10‐year (June 1996 to June 2006) retrospective analysis of patients with AIH from a single tertiary care center. The diagnosis of AIH was defined by the criteria established by the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Club.

Association of human APOBEC3 cytidine deaminases with the generation of hepatitis virus B x antigen mutants and hepatocellular carcinoma

Rongzhen Xu, Xuzhao Zhang, Wei Zhang, Yongmin Fang, Shu Zheng, Xiao‐Fang Yu – 28 November 2007 – Human APOBEC3 (apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide 3) cytidine deaminases have been shown to be potent inhibitors of diverse retroviruses including Vif‐deficient human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV‐1), hepatitis virus B (HBV), adeno‐associated virus, and endogenous retroelements.

Grb2‐associated binder‐1 plays a central role in the hepatocyte growth factor enhancement of hepatoma growth inhibition by K vitamin analog compound 5

Ziqiu Wang, Lisheng Ge, Meifang Wang, Brian I. Carr – 28 November 2007 – Compound 5 (Cpd 5), a K vitamin analog, has been shown to inhibit Hep3B human hepatoma cell growth in cultures and rat hepatoma growth in vivo through prolonged epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)–extracellular response kinase (ERK) phosphorylation, and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) synergizes with Cpd 5 to enhance the inhibition of Hep3B cell and rat hepatoma growth.

Fish oil prevents sucrose‐induced fatty liver but exacerbates high‐safflower oil‐induced fatty liver in ddy mice

Tomomi Yamazaki, Akiko Nakamori, Eriko Sasaki, Satoshi Wada, Osamu Ezaki – 28 November 2007 – Diets high in sucrose/fructose or fat can result in hepatic steatosis (fatty liver). We analyzed the effects of dietary fish oil on fatty liver induced by sucrose, safflower oil, and butter in ddY mice. In experiment I, mice were fed a high‐starch diet [70 energy% (en%) starch] plus 20% (wt/wt) sucrose in the drinking water or fed a high‐safflower oil diet (60 en%) for 11 weeks. As a control, mice were fed a high‐starch diet with drinking water. Fish oil (10 en%) was either supplemented or not.

Expansion of selection criteria for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in living donor liver transplantation

Takashi Ito, Yasutsugu Takada, Mikiko Ueda, Hironori Haga, Yoji Maetani, Fumitaka Oike, Kohei Ogawa, Seisuke Sakamoto, Yasuhiro Ogura, Hiroto Egawa, Koichi Tanaka, Shinji Uemoto – 28 November 2007 – In the present study, the results of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for 125 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients were analyzed to determine optimal criteria exceeding the Milan criteria (MC) but still with predictably good outcomes. On the basis of pretransplant imaging studies, 70 patients met the MC, and 55 patients did not.

Effect of prophylaxis on fungal infection and costs for high‐risk liver transplant recipients

Alan Reed, Jill Boylston Herndon, Nail Ersoz, Takahisa Fujikawa, Denise Schain, Paul Lipori, Alan Hemming, Qin Li, Elizabeth Shenkman, Bruce Vogel – 28 November 2007 – We sought to determine whether the prophylactic use of amphotericin B products (conventional amphotericin B and liposomal amphotericin B) reduces the incidence of fungal infections in high‐risk liver transplant recipients, and if so, whether this lowers the cost of care.

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