Decreased hepatic nitric oxide production contributes to the development of rat sinusoidal obstruction syndrome

Laurie D. Deleve, Xiangdong Wang, Gary C. Kanel, Yoshiya Ito, Nancy W. Bethea, Margaret K. McCuskey, Zoltan A. Tokes, Jeffrey Tsai, Robert S. McCuskey – 7 March 2007 – This study examined the role of decreased nitric oxide (NO) in the microcirculatory obstruction of hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS). SOS was induced in rats with monocrotaline. Monocrotaline caused hepatic vein NO to decrease by 30% at 24 hours and by 70% at 72 hours; this decrease persisted throughout late SOS.

Allelic loss of chromosome 4q21 ≈︁ 23 associates with hepatitis B Virus—related hepatocarcinogenesis and elevated alpha‐fetoprotein

Shiou‐Hwei Yeh, Ming‐Wei Lin, Shu‐Fen Lu, Dai‐Chen Wu, Shih‐Feng Tsai, Ching‐Yi Tsai, Ming‐Yang Lai, Hey‐Chi Hsu, Ding‐Shinn Chen, Pei‐Jer Chen – 7 March 2007 – Allelic loss of chromosome 4q is one of the most frequent genetic aberrations found in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and suggests the presence of putative tumor suppressor genes within this region. To precisely define the region containing these tumor suppressor genes for further positional cloning, we tried a detailed deletion mapping strategy in 149 HCCs by using 49 microsatellite markers covering 4q12 ≈ 25.

A new strategy for studying In Vitro the drug susceptibility of clinical isolates of human hepatitis B virus

David Durantel, Sandra Carrouée‐Durantel, Bettina Werle‐Lapostolle, Marie‐Noëlle Brunelle, Christian Pichoud, Christian Trépo, Fabien Zoulim – 7 March 2007 – Resistance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) to antivirals has become a major clinical problem. Our objective was to develop a new method for the cloning of naturally occurring HBV genomes and a phenotypic assay capable of assessing HBV drug susceptibility and DNA synthesis capacity in vitro.

Bridge over troubled water: Protection against hepatitis C virus persistence?

Robert Thimme, Hans‐Christian Spangenberg, Hubert E. Blum – 7 March 2007 – Background: Neither previous hepatitis C (HCV) infection nor vaccination with HCV‐derived antigens protects against reinfection. However, HCV infection and vaccination in chimpanzees has been shown to reduce the magnitude and duration of viraemia with re‐challenge. We aimed to establish whether similar immunity could be achieved in man.

Are cultured liver cells the right tool to investigate mechanisms of liver disease or hepatotoxicity?

Hartmut Jaeschke – 7 March 2007 – Microarray technology allows the simultaneous analysis of mRNA expression levels of thousands of genes. In the field of toxicogenomics, this technology could help to identify potentially unsafe compounds based on the changes in mRNA expression patterns they induce. Rodent in vivo and in vitro systems are currently the experimental models of choice for predictive toxicology, especially in early phases of development.

Persistent ascites and low serum sodium identify patients with cirrhosis and low MELD scores who are at high risk for early death

Douglas M. Heuman, Souheil G. Abou‐Assi, Adil Habib, Leslie M. Williams, R. Todd Stravitz, Arun J. Sanyal, Robert A. Fisher, Anastasios A. Mihas – 7 March 2007 – Despite the adoption of “sickest first” liver transplantation, pretransplant death remains common, and many early deaths occur despite initially low Model for End‐stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores. From 1997–2003, we studied 507 cirrhotic United States veterans referred for consideration of liver transplantation to identify additional predictors of early mortality.

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