Josh Levitsky – 26 July 2006 – Bacterial infections frequently occur early after liver transplantation. We recently reported significant progress with a synbiotic composition, consisting of one lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and one fiber, which reduced the infection rate from 48% (with selective bowel decontamination) to 13%. Now, our aim is to study if a combination of different LAB and fibers would further improve outcome. A prospective randomized double‐blind trial was undertaken in 66 liver transplant recipients. All patients received enteral nutrition immediately post‐operatively.

Xiao‐Song He, Xuhuai Ji, Matthew B. Hale, Ramsey Cheung, Aijaz Ahmed, Yaqian Guo, Garry P. Nolan, Lawrence M. Pfeffer, Teresa L. Wright, Neil Risch, Robert Tibshirani, Harry B. Greenberg – 26 July 2006 – Interferon (IFN)‐α–based therapy for chronic hepatitis C is effective in fewer than 50% of all treated patients, with a substantially lower response rate in black patients. The goal of this study was to investigate the underlying host transcriptional response associated with interferon treatment outcomes.

Rolf Gebhardt, Elke Ueberham – 26 July 2006

A. S. Knisely, Sandra S. Strautnieks, Yvonne Meier, Bruno Stieger, Jane A. Byrne, Bernard C. Portmann, Laura N. Bull, Ludmila Pawlikowska, Banu Bilezikçi, Figen Özçay, Aranka László, László Tiszlavicz, Lynette Moore, Jeremy Raftos, Henrik Arnell, Björn Fischler, Antal Németh, Nikos Papadogiannakis, Joanna Cielecka‐Kuszyk, Irena Jankowska, Joanna Pawłowska, Hector Melín‐Aldana, Karan M. Emerick, Peter F. Whitington, Giorgina Mieli‐Vergani, Richard J. Thompson – 26 July 2006 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is rare in young children.

Julia A. Wendon, Fin Stolze Larsen – 26 July 2006

Jacques Bernuau, François Durand – 26 July 2006 – Monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP) in acute liver failure (ALF) is controversial as a result of the reported complication risk (approximately 20%) and limited therapeutic options for intracranial hypertension. Using prospectively collected information from 332 patients with ALF and severe encephalopathy, we evaluated a recent experience with ICP monitoring in the 24 centers constituting the U.S. ALF Study Group.

Jeffrey D. Browning, Jeannie Davis, M. Hossein Saboorian, Shawn C. Burgess – 26 July 2006

Hiroshi Uchinami, Ekihiro Seki, David A. Brenner, Jeanine D'Armiento – 26 July 2006 – Cholestasis occurs in a variety of clinical settings and often results in liver injury and secondary biliary fibrosis. Several matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are upregulated in the liver during cholestasis. The function of the major interstitial collagenase, MMP‐13, in the initial phase of liver fibrosis is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of MMP‐13 during the development of cholestasis‐induced liver fibrosis by comparing wild‐type and MMP‐13‐deficient mice.

Pallavi B. Limaye, Vishakha S. Bhave, Prajakta S. Palkar, Udayan M. Apte, Sharmilee P. Sawant, Songtao Yu, John R. Latendresse, Janardan K. Reddy, Harihara M. Mehendale – 26 July 2006 – Acute liver failure induced by hepatotoxic drugs results from rapid progression of injury. Substantial research has shown that timely liver regeneration can prevent progression of injury leading to a favorable prognosis. However, the mechanism by which compensatory regeneration prevents progression of injury is not known.

Yao‐Ming Wu, Brigid Joseph, Sanjeev Gupta – 26 July 2006 – Successful grafting of tissues or cells from mismatched donors requires systemic immunosuppression. It is yet to be determined whether immunosuppressive manipulations perturb transplanted cell engraftment or proliferation. We used syngeneic and allogeneic cell transplantation assays based on F344 recipient rats lacking dipeptidyl peptidase IV enzyme activity to identify transplanted hepatocytes.