Stuart A. McCluskey, Keyvan Karkouti, Duminda N. Wijeysundera, Karen Kakizawa, Mohammed Ghannam, Ahmed Hamdy, David Grant, Gary Levy – 1 September 2006 – Massive blood transfusion (MBT) remains a serious and common occurrence in liver transplantation surgery. This retrospective cohort study was undertaken to identify preoperative predictors of MBT and to develop a risk index for MBT in liver transplantation. Data were retrospectively collected on all liver transplantations carried out at a single institution between January 1998 and March 2004.

Patrizia Farci – 29 August 2006

Nicholas F. LaRusso, Benjamin L. Shneider, Dennis Black, Gregory J. Gores, Stephen P. James, Edward Doo, Jay H. Hoofnagle – 29 August 2006 – Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare but important liver disease that leads to cirrhosis and need for liver transplantation in a high proportion of cases. The disease occurs in approximately 1 per 100,000 population per year, usually presents in adulthood, and affects men more often than women.

Richard K. Sterling – 29 August 2006

Corinne Castelnau, Frédéric Le Gal, Marie‐Pierre Ripault, Emmanuel Gordien, Michelle Martinot‐Peignoux, Nathalie Boyer, Bach‐Nga Pham, Sarah Maylin, Pierre Bedossa, Paul Dény, Patrick Marcellin, Elyanne Gault – 29 August 2006 – Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) can cause severe acute and chronic liver disease in patients infected by hepatitis B virus. Interferon alpha at high doses, although poorly efficient, is the only treatment reported to provide some benefit in chronic hepatitis delta. Pegylated interferon alpha (PEG‐IFN) has not yet been evaluated.

Heidi Barth, T. Jake Liang, Thomas F. Baumert – 29 August 2006 – With an estimated 170 million infected individuals, hepatitis C virus (HCV) has a major impact on public health. A vaccine protecting against HCV infection is not available, and current antiviral therapies are characterized by limited efficacy, high costs, and substantial side effects. Binding of the virus to the cell surface followed by viral entry is the first step in a cascade of interactions between virus and the target cell that is required for the initiation of infection.

Péter Fülöp, Zoltán Derdák, Anthony Sheets, Edmond Sabo, Eric P. Berthiaume, Murray B. Resnick, Jack R. Wands, György Paragh, György Baffy – 29 August 2006 – Fatty liver is vulnerable to conditions that challenge hepatocellular energy homeostasis. Lipid‐laden hepatocytes highly express uncoupling protein‐2 (UCP2), a mitochondrial carrier that competes with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis by mediating proton leak. However, evidence for a link between UCP2 expression and susceptibility of liver to acute injury is lacking.

Clemens Schafmayer, Jürgen Tepel, Andre Franke, Stephan Buch, Sören Lieb, Marcus Seeger, Frank Lammert, Bernd Kremer, Ulrich R. Fölsch, Fred Fändrich, Stefan Schreiber, Jochen Hampe – 29 August 2006 – Genetic susceptibility in the causation of gallbladder diseases was recognized as early as 1937. A major gallstone susceptibility locus (Lith1) was identified in 1995 by quantitative trait locus mapping in mice. Two attractive positional and functional candidate genes in LXRA and ABCB11 are located in this interval. ABCB11 is associated with progressive familial cholestasis.

Karsten Wursthorn, Marc Lutgehetmann, Maura Dandri, Tassilo Volz, Peter Buggisch, Bernhard Zollner, Thomas Longerich, Peter Schirmacher, Frauke Metzler, Myrga Zankel, Conrad Fischer, Graeme Currie, Carol Brosgart, Joerg Petersen – 29 August 2006 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) is responsible for persistent infection of hepatocytes. The aim of this study was to determine changes in intrahepatic cccDNA in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CH‐B) during 48 weeks of antiviral therapy and its correlation to virological, biochemical, and histological parameters.

Montserrat Puig, Kathleen Mihalik, John C. Tilton, Ollie Williams, Michael Merchlinsky, Mark Connors, Stephen M. Feinstone, Marian E. Major – 29 August 2006 – Hepatitis C is a major cause of chronic liver disease, with 170 million individuals infected worldwide and no available vaccine. We analyzed the effects of an induced T‐cell response in 3 chimpanzees, targeting nonstructural proteins in the absence of neutralizing antibodies. In all animals the specific T‐cell response modified the outcome of infection, producing a 10‐ to 1,000‐fold reduction in peak virus titers.