Julia Ewaschuk, Ryan Endersby, David Thiel, Hugo Diaz, Jody Backer, Mang Ma, Thomas Churchill, Karen Madsen – 24 August 2007 – A breakdown in intestinal barrier function and increased bacterial translocation are key events in the pathogenesis of sepsis and liver disease. Altering gut microflora with noninvasive and immunomodulatory probiotic organisms has been proposed as an adjunctive therapy to reduce the level of bacterial translocation and prevent the onset of sepsis.

Swati Joshi‐Barve, Shirish S. Barve, Kiranmayi Amancherla, Leila Gobejishvili, Daniell Hill, Matthew Cave, Prachi Hote, Craig J. McClain – 24 August 2007 – Obesity and the metabolic syndrome are closely correlated with hepatic steatosis. Simple hepatic steatosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease can progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which can be a precursor to more serious liver diseases, such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Juan A. Pineda, José A. García‐García, Manuela Aguilar‐Guisado, María J. Ríos‐Villegas, Josefa Ruiz‐Morales, Antonio Rivero, José del Valle, Rafael Luque, Jesús Rodríguez‐Baño, Mercedes González‐Serrano, Angela Camacho, Juan Macías, Israel Grilo, Jesús M. Gómez‐Mateos, Grupo para el Estudio de las Hepatitis Víricas de la Sociedad Andaluza de Enfermedades Infecciosas (SAEI) – 24 August 2007 – Little is known about the natural history of liver disease in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐coinfected subjects under highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Javier García‐Samaniego, Xavier Forns – 24 August 2007

Neeral L. Shah, Fredric D. Gordon – 24 August 2007

Apurva A. Modi, Jay H. Hoofnagle – 24 August 2007

Frank Tacke, Christian Trautwein – 24 August 2007

Jian‐Min Yuan, Shelly C. Lu, David Van Den Berg, Sugantha Govindarajan, Zhen‐Quan Zhang, Jose M. Mato, Mimi C. Yu – 24 August 2007 – Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and thymidylate synthase (TYMS) are known to play a role in DNA methylation, synthesis, and repair. The genetic mutations in MTHFR and TYMS genes may have influences on their respective enzyme activities. Data on the association studies of the MTHFR and TYMS genetic polymorphisms and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are sparse.

Maïté Lewin, Armelle Poujol‐Robert, Pierre‐Yves Boëlle, Dominique Wendum, Elisabeth Lasnier, Magalie Viallon, Jérôme Guéchot, Christine Hoeffel, Lionel Arrivé, Jean‐Michel Tubiana, Raoul Poupon – 24 August 2007 – Liver biopsy is the gold standard for assessing fibrosis but has several limitations. We evaluated a noninvasive method, so‐called diffusion‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWMRI), which measures the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of water, for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Jeroen N. Stoop, Andrea M. Woltman, Paula J. Biesta, Johannes G. Kusters, Ernst J. Kuipers, Harry L.A. Janssen, Renate G. van der Molen – 24 August 2007 – Chronicity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is characterized by a weak immune response to the virus. CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) are present in increased numbers in the peripheral blood of chronic HBV patients, and these Treg are capable of suppressing the HBV‐specific immune response. The aim of this study was to abrogate Treg‐mediated suppression of the HBV‐specific immune response.