Frank Grünhage, Monica Acalovschi, Simona Tirziu, Maja Walier, Thomas F. Wienker, Anca Ciocan, Ofelia Mosteanu, Tilman Sauerbruch, Frank Lammert – 24 August 2007 – Genomewide scans of inbred strains of mice have linked the genes encoding the hepatocanalicular cholesterol transporter ABCG5/G8 to gallstone formation. Five nonsynonymous coding single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the orthologous human genes are associated with differences in serum cholesterol and plant sterol levels. We now tested these ABCG5/G8 SNPs for linkage and association with gallstone susceptibility in humans.

Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Arun J. Sanyal, Norman D. Grace, William Carey, Practice Guidelines Committee of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, the Practice Parameters Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology – 24 August 2007

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.