Tilak U. Shah, Richard C. Semelka, Vasilis Voultsinos, Jorge Elias Jr., Ersan Altun, Ertan Pamuklar, Zeynep Firat, David A. Gerber, Jeffrey Fair, Mark W. Russo – 1 September 2006 – The detection of main portal vein thrombosis (PVT) on preoperative imaging of liver transplant candidates has important technical implications for the transplantation procedure. Data are scarce regarding the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at detecting PVT. The aim of our study was to compare preoperative findings of the portal vein on MRI to operative findings at liver transplantation.

George N. Ioannou – 1 September 2006 – This study aimed to develop and validate a comprehensive model that predicts survival after liver transplantation based on pretransplant donor and recipient characteristics. Complete data were available from the United Network for Organ Sharing for 20,301 persons who underwent liver transplantation in the United States between 1994 and 2003. Proportional‐hazards regression was used to identify the donor and recipient characteristics that best predicted survival and incorporate these characteristics in a multivariate model.

Giuseppe Fusai, Parveen Dhaliwal, Nancy Rolando, Caroline Anne Sabin, David Patch, Brian Ritchie Davidson, Andrew Kenneth Burroughs, Keith Rolles – 1 September 2006 – Predictive factors for intrahepatic cholestasis after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) have not yet been established. We sought to identify the incidence and risk factors associated with prolonged severe intrahepatic cholestasis (PSIC) after OLT. We assessed 428 consecutive patients undergoing their first OLT.

Anneke Funk, Mouna Mhamdi, Heinz Hohenberg, Hans Will, Hueseyin Sirma – 29 August 2006 – Entry and intracellular transport of hepatitis B viruses have several unusual, largely unknown aspects. In this study, we explored the mode of virus entry using the duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) and the primary hepatocyte infection model. Upon internalization, viral particles were enriched in an endosomal compartment, as revealed by biochemical and ultrastructural analysis. Virus‐containing vesicles harbored early endosome markers.

Anaïs Vallet‐Pichard, Vincent Mallet, Stanislas Pol – 29 August 2006

Hyung Joon Yim, Munira Hussain, Ying Liu, Stephen N. Wong, Scott K. Fung, Anna S. F. Lok – 29 August 2006 – Multi‐drug resistant hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been reported in hepatitis B patients who received sequential antiviral therapy. In vitro studies showed that HBV constructs with mutations resistant to lamivudine and adefovir have marked reduction in sensitivity to combination of lamivudine and adefovir, whereas constructs with mutations resistant to either drug remain sensitive to the other drug.

29 August 2006

Carlos Guarner, José M. González‐Navajas, Elisabet Sánchez, Germán Soriando, Rubén Francés, Maite Chiva, Pedro Zapater, Susana Benlloch, Carlos Muñoz, Sonia Pascual, Joaquín Balanzó, Miguel Pérez‐Mateo, José Such – 29 August 2006 – Bacterial DNA (bactDNA) is present in blood and ascitic fluid (AF) in a third of patients with cirrhosis and ascites, but whether this phenomenon represents episodes of bacterial translocation (BT), strictly considered when culture of mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) are positive, remains unknown.

Julien Crettaz, Pedro Berraondo, Itsaso Mauleón, Laura Ochoa, Vijay Shankar, Miguel Barajas, Nico van Rooijen, Stefan Kochanek, Cheng Qian, Jesús Prieto, Rubén Hernández‐Alcoceba, Gloria González‐Aseguinolaza – 29 August 2006 – Recombinant adenoviruses (Ad) are among the most extensively used vectors for liver gene transfer. One of the major limitations for the clinical application of these vectors is the inflammatory immune response associated with systemic administration of high dose of virus.

Andreas Laras, John Koskinas, Evangelini Dimou, Ageliki Kostamena, Stephanos J. Hadziyannis – 29 August 2006 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) is responsible for viral persistence in the natural course of chronic HBV infection and during prolonged antiviral therapy and serves as the template for the production of HBV pregenomic RNA (pgRNA), the primary step in HBV replication.