Brennan M. R. Spiegel, Roger Bolus, Steven Han, Myron Tong, Eric Esrailian, Jennifer Talley, Tram Tran, Jason Smith, Hetal A. Karsan, Francisco Durazo, Bruce Bacon, Paul Martin, Zobair Younossi, Siew Hwa‐Ong, Fasiha Kanwal – 27 June 2007 – Despite the increasing realization that health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important outcome in chronic HBV infection, there are no validated, disease‐targeted instruments currently available.

Philippe Halfon, Guillaume Penaranda, Christophe Renou, Marc Bourliere – 27 June 2007

Michael Trauner – 27 June 2007

Michael R. Beard, Fiona J. Warner – 27 June 2007

Harel Dahari, Ruy M. Ribeiro, Alan S. Perelson – 27 June 2007 – When patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are placed on antiviral therapy with pegylated interferon (IFN)‐α or IFN‐α plus ribavirin (RBV), HCV RNA generally declines in a biphasic manner. However, a triphasic decline has been reported in a subset of patients. A triphasic decline consists of a first phase (1‐2 days) with rapid virus load decline, followed by a “shoulder phase” (4‐28 days) in which virus load decays slowly or remains constant, and a third phase of renewed viral decay.

Richard A. Del Rio, Anthony B. Post, Mendel E. Singer – 27 June 2007

Daniel Ackermann, David Mordasini, Lydie Cheval, Martine Imbert‐Teboul, Bruno Vogt, Alain Doucet – 27 June 2007 – Renal sodium retention in experimental liver cirrhosis originates from the distal nephron sensitive to aldosterone. The aims of this study were to (1) determine the exact site of sodium retention along the aldosterone‐sensitive distal nephron, and (2) to evaluate the role of aldosterone and mineralocorticoid receptor activation in this process. Liver cirrhosis was induced by bile duct ligation in either adrenal‐intact or corticosteroid‐clamped mice.

Mouna Mhamdi, Anneke Funk, Heinz Hohenberg, Hans Will, Hüseyin Sirma – 13 June 2007 – Formation of enveloped viruses involves assembly and budding at cellular membranes. In this study, we elucidated the morphogenesis of hepadnaviruses on the ultrastructural and biochemical level using duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) as a model system. Formation of virus progeny initiates at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and is conserved both in vitro and in vivo.

Anaïs Vallet‐Pichard, Vincent Mallet, Bertrand Nalpas, Virginie Verkarre, Antoine Nalpas, Valérie Dhalluin‐Venier, Hélène Fontaine, Stanislas Pol – 13 June 2007 – To optimize the management of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, noninvasive tests to determine the degree of hepatic fibrosis have been developed.

Lisa I. Backus, Derek B. Boothroyd, Barbara R. Phillips, Larry A. Mole – 13 June 2007 – The currently recommended treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is pegylated interferon alfa (PEG‐INF) and ribavirin, which can be difficult to tolerate. More information about predicting sustained virologic response (SVR) may allow more informed treatment decisions to be made. This retrospective observational cohort study identified predictors of SVR to PEG‐INF and ribavirin in routine medical practice at 121 Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.