Eliza Wiercinska, Lucia Wickert, Bernd Denecke, Harun M. Said, Jafar Hamzavi, A. M. Gressner, Midori Thorikay, Peter ten Dijke, Peter R. Mertens, Katja Breitkopf, Steven Dooley – 20 April 2006 – Transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β is critically involved in the activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) that occurs during the process of liver damage, for example, by alcohol, hepatotoxic viruses, or aflatoxins. Overexpression of the TGF‐β antagonist Smad7 inhibits transdifferentiation and arrests HSCs in a quiescent stage.

Jesús Medina, Ricardo Moreno‐Otero – 20 April 2006

Koichi Tanaka, Kazue Ozawa, Satoshi Teramukai, Yasutsugu Takada, Hiroto Egawa, Satoshi Kaihara, Yasuhiro Fujimoto, Yasuhiro Ogura, Mureo Kasahara, Masako Ono, Hiroshi Sato, Kenji Takai, Masanori Fukushima, Nagahiro Minato – 20 April 2006 – The primed status of T cells is markedly different among liver transplant recipients, due to a lifetime of antigen exposure and reduced thymopoiesis by aging, and diseases. This study aims to characterize the preoperative immunological status of CD8+ T cell subpopulations and relate it to the outcome for liver transplant recipients.

Neil Kaplowitz – 20 April 2006

Takuma Teratani, Haruhiko Yoshida, Shuichiro Shiina, Shuntaro Obi, Shinpei Sato, Ryosuke Tateishi, Norio Mine, Yuji Kondo, Takao Kawabe, Masao Omata – 20 April 2006 – We evaluated the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency (RF) ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in presumably high‐risk locations. Between February 1999 and December 2001, we performed RF ablation on 1,419 nodules in 636 consecutive HCC patients, of which 231 nodules in 207 patients were in high‐risk locations, defined as less than 5 mm from a large vessel or an extrahepatic organ.

Carla Kuiken, Masashi Mizokami, Gilbert Deleage, Karina Yusim, Francois Penin, Tadasu Shin‐I, Céline Charavay, Ning Tao, Daniel Crisan, Delphine Grando, Anita Dalwani, Christophe Geourjon, Ashish Agrawal, Christophe Combet – 20 April 2006 – Part of the effort to develop hepatitis C–specific drugs and vaccines is the study of genetic variability of all publicly available HCV sequences. Three HCV databases are currently available to aid this effort and to provide additional insight into the basic biology, immunology, and evolution of the virus.

Mario Cruciani, Carlo Mengoli, Marina Malena, Oliviero Bosco, Giovanni Serpelloni, Paolo Grossi – 20 April 2006 – We performed a meta‐analysis to determine whether antifungal prophylaxis decreases infectious morbidity and mortality in liver transplant patients. We searched for randomized trials dealing with prophylaxis with systemic antifungal agents. We used a fixed effect model, with risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI); we assessed study quality for heterogeneity and publication bias.

20 April 2006

Kevin D. Mullen, Ravi K. Ghanta, Brian S. Putka – 20 April 2006

George N. Ioannou, Noel S. Weiss, Edward J. Boyko, Dariush Mozaffarian, Sum P. Lee – 20 April 2006 – In the United States, elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity in the absence of viral hepatitis or excessive alcohol consumption is most commonly attributed to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD is related to predictors of coronary heart disease (CHD) such as insulin resistance and central obesity. We examined the association between elevated serum ALT activity and the 10‐year risk of CHD as estimated using the Framingham risk score (FRS).