Jay H. Hoofnagle – 23 June 2006

Evangelos Cholongitas, Laura Marelli, Vibhakorn Shusang, Marco Senzolo, Keith Rolles, David Patch, Andrew K. Burroughs – 23 June 2006 – The Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score is now used for allocation in liver transplantation (LT) waiting lists, replacing the Child‐Turcotte‐Pugh (CTP) score. However, there is debate as whether it is superior to CTP score to predict mortality in patients with cirrhosis on the LT waiting list and after LT. We reviewed studies comparing the accuracy of MELD vs. CTP score in transplantation settings.

DeokBog Moon, SungGyu Lee, Shin Hwang, KiHun Kim, ChulSoo Ahn, KwangMin Park, TaeYong Ha, GiWon Song – 23 June 2006 – Although severely steatotic liver grafts are not suitable for transplantation, they have been used when other, more optimal donors were not available, especially for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) using two liver grafts. Here we present two cases of dual‐graft LDLT in which the recipients showed rapid and complete clearing of fat from livers with previously severe steatosis.

Vimala Christopher, Thawab Al‐Chalabi, Paul D. Richardson, Paolo Muiesan, Mohammed Rela, Nigel D. Heaton, John G. O'Grady, Michael A. Heneghan – 23 June 2006 – Infertility is common in women with end‐stage liver disease. Successful liver transplant (LT), however, can restore childbearing potential. Controversy exists regarding the most appropriate immunosuppressive regimen and timing of conception following LT. We report the outcomes of a review of all pregnancies occurring following LT at King's College Hospital, London, from 1988 to 2004.

Gerald S. Lipshutz, Supriya Patel, Jonathan R. Hiatt, Hassan Yersiz, Douglas G. Farmer, Sue V. McDiarmid, R. Mark Ghobrial, Ronald W. Busuttil – 23 June 2006 – Few studies have reported a series of patients who have undergone portocaval hemitransposition at the time of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Furthermore, no series report the outcome of pediatric patients who required the procedure. This work analyzes the experience with portocaval hemitransposition in the pediatric liver transplant population at a single center since the initial description of the procedure.

Aaron W. Bell, George K. Michalopoulos – 23 June 2006 – Phenobarbital is a lipophilic molecule used as a sedative and antiepileptic drug that elicits a multitude of effects in the liver, including gross liver enlargement, hepatocyte hypertrophy, and induced expression of drug‐metabolizing enzymes and other liver‐specific genes. The constitutive androstane receptor (CAR; NR1I3) and to a lesser extent the pregnane X receptor (PXR; NR1I2) are responsible for mediating induction of many phenobarbital‐responsive genes.

Nils‐Holger Zschemisch, Christian Liedtke, Uta Dierssen, Yulia A. Nevzorova, Torsten Wüstefeld, Jürgen Borlak, Michael P. Manns, Christian Trautwein – 23 June 2006 – Cyclin E1 controls G1/S phase transition of the eukaryotic cell cycle. We report the impact of alternative spliced cyclin E1 isoforms on cell cycle regulation in hepatocytes. We show that expression of new cyclin E1 mRNA variants IN3, Δ4, and Δ5 is associated with retarded proliferation in murine hepatocellular carcinoma.

Lucia Carulli, Amedeo Lonardo, Silvia Lombardini, Giulio Marchesini, Paola Loria – 23 June 2006

Coen C. Paulusma, Annemiek Groen, Cindy Kunne, Kam S. Ho‐Mok, Astrid L. Spijkerboer, D. Rudi de Waart, Frans J. Hoek, Heleen Vreeling, Kees A. Hoeben, Jan van Marle, Ludmila Pawlikowska, Laura N. Bull, Alan F. Hofmann, A. S. Knisely, Ronald P. J. Oude Elferink – 23 June 2006 – Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 1 (PFIC1, Byler disease, OMIM 211600) is a severe inherited liver disease caused by mutations in ATP8B1. ATP8B1 is a member of the type 4 subfamily of P‐type ATPases, which are phospholipid flippases.

23 June 2006