Janneke M. Stapelbroek, Karel J. van Erpecum, Leo W. J. Klomp, Niels G. Venneman, Thijs P. Schwartz, Gerard P. van Berge Henegouwen, John Devlin, Carin M. J. van Nieuwkerk, A. S. Knisely, Roderick H. J. Houwen – 22 December 2005 – Benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis (BRIC) is characterized by episodic cholestasis and pruritus without anatomical obstruction. Effective medical treatment is not available.

15 December 2005

Giovanni Raimondo, Maurizia R. Brunetto, Patrizia Pontisso, Antonina Smedile, Anna Maria Maina, Carlo Saitta, Giovanni Squadrito, Natascia Tono – 1 December 2005 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection is often associated with severe forms of liver disease. However, comprehensive studies are lacking, and scant information is available regarding the virological behavior over time in coinfected patients.

Takeji Umemura, Richard Y.‐H. Wang, Cathy Schechterly, J. Wai‐Kuo Shih, Kendo Kiyosawa, Harvey J. Alter – 1 December 2005 – To investigate the quantitative characteristics of humoral immunity in patients with hepatitis C, we established an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assay for detection of anti–hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐secreting B cells. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated 100% specificity and 58% to 92% sensitivity for detecting B‐cell responses to NS5b, NS3, E2, and core antigens.

Kwang‐Hoon Song, John Y. L. Chiang – 1 December 2005 – The gene encoding cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase (CYP7A1) is tightly regulated to control bile acid synthesis and maintain lipid homeostasis. Recent studies in mice suggest that bile acid synthesis is regulated by the fasted‐to‐fed cycle, and fasting induces CYP7A1 gene expression in parallel to the induction of peroxisome proliferators‐activated receptor γ co‐activator 1α (PGC‐1α) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK). How glucagon regulates CYP7A1 gene expression in the human liver is not clear.

William C. Grant, Ravi R. Jhaveri, John G. McHutchison, Kevin A. Schulman, Teresa L. Kauf – 29 November 2005 – Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects approximately 3 million people in the United States and places tremendous demands on the health care system. As many observers have predicted, the disease burden continues to grow as the infected population ages. In this study, we analyzed inpatient data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, outpatient data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, and drug data from the Verispan Source Prescription Audit.

Theo Heller, Leonard B. Seeff – 29 November 2005

Hajime Isomoto, Shogo Kobayashi, Nathan W. Werneburg, Steve F. Bronk, Maria Eugenia Guicciardi, David A. Frank, Gregory J. Gores – 29 November 2005 – Interleukin 6 (IL‐6) contributes to the pathogenesis of cholangiocarcinoma by upregulating myeloid cell leukemia‐1 (Mcl‐1), a key antiapoptotic Bcl‐2 family member protein. IL‐6 can alter gene transcription via Janus kinases (JAK) and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signal cascade. We examined this cascade in IL‐6 regulation of Mcl‐1 transcription in human cholangiocarcinoma cell lines.

Jin‐Won Youn, Su‐Hyung Park, Dimitri Lavillette, Francois‐Loic Cosset, Se‐Hwan Yang, Chang Geun Lee, Hyun‐Tak Jin, Chang‐Min Kim, Mohamed Tarek M. Shata, Dong‐Hun Lee, Wolfram Pfahler, Alfred M. Prince, Young Chul Sung – 29 November 2005 – Immune correlates of protection against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are not well understood. Here we investigated 2 naive and 6 immunized chimpanzees before and after intravenous challenge, 12 weeks after the last immunization, with 100 50% chimpanzee infectious doses (CID50) of heterologous genotype 1b HCV.

Daniel A. Langer, Vijay H. Shah – 29 November 2005