Yuji Soejima, Tomoaki Taguchi, Keiko Ogita, Akinobu Taketomi, Tomoharu Yoshizumi, Hideaki Uchiyama, Takuro Ohno, Mitsuo Shimada, Yoshihiko Maehara – 20 April 2006 – Congenital absence of the portal vein (CAPV) is a rare malformation of the mesenteric vasculature in which visceral venous blood bypasses the liver, completely draining into the systemic circulation through a congenital porto‐systemic shunt. Liver transplantation has rarely been indicated for patients with this disease.

Alan F. Hofmann, Pierre‐Michel Huet – 20 April 2006

Harm Hoekstra, Robert J. Porte, Yinghua Tian, Wolfram Jochum, Bruno Stieger, Wolfgang Moritz, Maarten J.H. Slooff, Rolf Graf, Pierre A. Clavien – 20 April 2006 – Intrahepatic bile duct strictures are a serious complication after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We examined the role of endogenous bile salt toxicity in the pathogenesis of bile duct injury after OLT. Livers from wild‐type mice and mice heterozygous for disruption of the multidrug resistance 2 Mdr2 gene (Mdr2+/−) were transplanted into wild‐type recipient mice.

Donald M. Jensen, Timothy R. Morgan, Patrick Marcellin, Paul J. Pockros, K. Rajender Reddy, Stephanos J. Hadziyannis, Peter Ferenci, Andrew M. Ackrill, Bernard Willems – 20 April 2006 – Approximately one third of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 patients achieved a sustained virological response (SVR) after 24 weeks of treatment with peginterferon α‐2a (40 kd) plus ribavirin in a randomized, multinational trial.

Andrew H. Talal, Ruy M. Ribeiro, Kimberly A. Powers, Michael Grace, Constance Cullen, Musaddeq Hussain, Marianthi Markatou, Alan S. Perelson – 20 April 2006 – Pegylated interferon (PEG‐IFN) has become standard therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We evaluated whether PEG‐IFN pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics account for differences in treatment outcome and whether these parameters might be predictors of therapeutic outcome.

Giovanni Musso, Maurizio Cassader, Roberto Gambino, Marilena Durazzo, Gianfranco Pagano – 20 April 2006

Rebecca Lim, Belinda Knight, Keyur Patel, John G. McHutchison, George C. Yeoh, John K. Olynyk – 20 April 2006 – Hepatic progenitor cells (called oval cells in rodents) proliferate during chronic liver injury. They have been suggested as targets of malignant transformation in chronic liver diseases, including chronic hepatitis C. Interferon alpha therapy reduces the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic hepatitis C regardless of viral clearance.

Hyo‐Suk Lee, Young‐Hwa Chung, KwanSik Lee, Kwan Soo Byun, Seung Woon Paik, Joon‐Yeol Han, Kwon Yoo, Hee‐Won Yoo, Jin Heon Lee, Byung Chul Yoo – 20 April 2006 – Clevudine is a nucleoside analog with an unnatural β‐L configuration. In a phase I/II clinical trial, once daily doses ranging from 10 to 200 mg for 28 days were well tolerated, and produced significant antiviral activity. The present study was conducted to assess the degree and durability of the antiviral response to 12 weeks of clevudine treatment, and to investigate its safety and tolerability.

Glenda G. Callender, Hugo R. Rosen, Jeffrey J. Roszkowski, Gretchen E. Lyons, Mingli Li, Tamson Moore, Natasha Brasic, Mark D. McKee, Michael I. Nishimura – 20 April 2006 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been reported to elicit B and T cell immunity in infected patients. Despite the presence of antiviral immunity, many patients develop chronic infections leading to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver failure that can require transplantation.

Masaki Nagaya, Sunao Kubota, Noboru Suzuki, Katsuya Akashi, Toshihiro Mitaka – 20 April 2006 – Focal injury of the adult liver causes formation of granulomatous tissue and fibrosis. When thermoreversible gelation polymer (TGP) was applied to such defects of the rat liver, complete recovery of hepatic tissues was observed without granulation. We analyzed the mechanism of the regeneration. TGP is a chemically synthesized biocompatible polymer material whose sol‐gel transition is reversible by changing the temperature. Cooled TGP was poured into a penetration lesion of the rat liver.