Doris B. Strader – 10 February 2006 – Managing patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection consists primarily of antiviral treatment, currently with peginterferon and ribavirin. Unfortunately, treatment recommendations derive largely from trials that have focused on highly selected patient populations. As a consequence of the strict inclusion and exclusion criteria in these studies, more than half of all HCV‐infected patients would be ineligible for enrollment. Even among the selected patients enrolled into studies, only 50% achieve a sustained virological response (SVR).

Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky – 10 February 2006 – Four virological markers of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are used clinically for management of patients with hepatitis C, namely the HCV genotype, HCV RNA, HCV core antigen, and antibody to HCV (anti‐HCV). The diagnosis of acute and chronic hepatitis C is based on both anti‐HCV detection using enzyme immunoassays (EIA) and HCV RNA detection using a sensitive molecular biology‐based technique.

Kinan Rifai, Gabriele I. Kirchner, Matthias J. Bahr, Tobias Cantz, Jens Rosenau, Björn Nashan, Jürgen L. Klempnauer, Michael P. Manns, Christian P. Strassburg – 2 February 2006 – Little is known about hearing impairment in patients after organ transplantation. We conducted a single‐center study to evaluate hearing impairment in patients after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). A questionnaire was sent to 695 adult patients after OLT to assess characteristics and course of auditory impairment. Risk factors such as ototoxic drugs were taken into consideration.

2 February 2006

W. Kenneth Washburn, Lewis W. Teperman, Thomas G. Heffron, David D. Douglas, Steven Gay, Eliezer Katz, Goran B.G. Klintmalm – 2 February 2006 – This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a novel 3‐dose regimen of daclizumab in de novo hepatitis C liver transplant recipients.

Aparajita Dey, Arthur I. Cederbaum – 30 January 2006 – Acute and chronic ethanol treatment has been shown to increase the production of reactive oxygen species, lower cellular antioxidant levels, and enhance oxidative stress in many tissues, especially the liver. Ethanol‐induced oxidative stress plays a major role in the mechanisms by which ethanol produces liver injury. Many pathways play a key role in how ethanol induces oxidative stress. This review summarizes some of the leading pathways and discusses the evidence for their contribution to alcohol‐induced liver injury.

Omar Almusa, Michael P. Federle – 30 January 2006 – Diagnostic imaging and interventional radiology play key roles in the evaluation and management of patients who are being evaluated for potential liver transplantation (LTX) and of those who have received a transplanted liver. Technical advances in imaging equipment and technique allow more accurate assessment and often obviate unnecessary or nontherapeutic surgery or invasive techniques such as catheter angiography. Liver Transpl 12:184–193, 2006. © 2006 AASLD.

David A. Shafritz, Michael Oertel, Anuradha Menthena, Dirk Nierhoff, Mariana D. Dabeva – 30 January 2006 – Although it was proposed almost 60 years ago that the adult mammalian liver contains hepatic stem cells, this issue remains controversial. Part of the problem is that no specific marker gene unique to the adult hepatic stem cell has yet been identified, and regeneration of the liver after acute injury is achieved through proliferation of adult hepatocytes and does not require activation or proliferation of stem cells.

Jordan J. Feld, T. Jake Liang – 30 January 2006 – Hepatitis C follows a variable course with some patients developing progressive liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, while others have minimal or no significant liver disease after decades of infection. Studies have identified both host and viral factors associated with disease progression.

Anatoliy I. Masyuk, Nicholas F. LaRusso – 30 January 2006 – The review focuses on the potential physiological and pathophysiological roles of aquaporins (AQPs), a family of water channel proteins, in the hepatobiliary system. Among 13 aquaporins (AQP0‐AQP12) cloned in mammals, seven AQPs have been identified in the liver and biliary tree. Accumulating evidence suggests that AQPs are likely involved in canalicular and ductal bile secretion, gluconeogenesis and microbial infection and may have other novel roles that affect liver function. (Hepatology 2006;43:S75–S81.)