Gabriel Marceau, Pascal Lapierre, Kathie Béland, Hugo Soudeyns, Fernando Alvarez – 21 July 2005 – Anti‐liver‐kidney microsome type 1 (LKM1) autoantibodies directed against the cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) are considered specific markers of type 2 autoimmune hepatitis, but are also found in 5% of sera from patients chronically infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV). Molecular mimicry between HCV proteins and CYP2D6 has been proposed to explain the emergence of these autoantibodies.

Sachin S. Kunde, Audrey J. Lazenby, Ronald H. Clements, Gary A. Abrams – 21 July 2005 – The upper limit of normal for ALT activity has been recommended to be lowered to ≤30 U/L in men and ≤19 U/L in women. These changes have been suggested to be diagnostically useful in subjects with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and spectrum of NAFLD with regard to the new ALT guidelines in 233 women with class II/III obesity. We compared our prior reference range for ALT (ULN ≤ 30 U/L in women) with the new standard.

Nicolas Chignard, Martine Mergey, Véronique Barbu, Laetitia Finzi, Emmanuel Tiret, Annick Paul, Chantal Housset – 21 July 2005 – Vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor‐1 (VPAC1) is the high‐affinity receptor of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), a major regulator of bile secretion. To better define the level at which VPAC1 stimulates bile secretion, we examined its expression in the different cell types participating in bile formation (i.e., hepatocytes, bile duct, and gallbladder epithelial cells).

Tom M. Ganten, Ronald Koschny, Tobias L. Haas, Jaromir Sykora, Min Li‐Weber, Kerstin Herzer, Henning Walczak – 21 July 2005 – TRAIL exhibits potent anti‐tumor activity on systemic administration in mice. Because of its proven in vivo efficacy, TRAIL may serve as a novel anti‐neoplastic drug. However, approximately half of the tumor cell lines tested so far are TRAIL resistant, and potential toxic side effects of certain recombinant forms of TRAIL on human hepatocytes have been described.

Robert J. Porte, Stephen H. Caldwell – 20 July 2005

Carlo Selmi, Massimo Zuin, M. Eric Gershwin – 20 July 2005

Raymond M. Planinsic, Jan van der Meer, Giuliano Testa, Luis Grande, Angel Candela, Robert J. Porte, R. Mark Ghobrial, Helena Isoniemi, Peter Billeskov Schelde, Elisabeth Erhardtsen, Goran Klintmalm, Sukru Emre – 20 July 2005 – Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) can be associated with excessive blood loss. As a result, there may be increased risk of adverse outcomes. Activated recombinant factor VII (rFVIIa) has demonstrated the ability to improve hemostasis in a variety of disorders; however, there has been a limited amount of research into its use in OLT.

Kristin L. Mekeel, W. Anthony Lee, Alan I. Reed, Alan W. Hemming – 20 July 2005 – It is estimated that 1.7% of orthotopic liver transplant recipients will develop abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) after transplantation. It has been observed that these aneurysms expand faster in transplant recipients; therefore, aggressive surveillance for AAAs in transplant recipients is required. Endovascular aneurysm repair is rapidly becoming the standard of care, especially in patients with previous abdominal surgery and other significant comorbidities.

20 July 2005

Nina Singh, Victor L. Yu – 20 July 2005