Olivier Detry, Arnaud De Roover, Laurence de Leval, Christian Herens, Jean Delwaide, Pierre Honoré, Michel Meurisse – 24 May 2005 – Transmission of an undiagnosed cancer with solid organ transplantation is a rare but dreadful event. In this paper the authors report the transmission of an undiagnosed sarcoma to recipients of kidney and liver grafts procured in a Maastricht category 3 non‐heart beating donor. To the authors' knowledge this case is the first report of such a transmission with a liver graft procured in a non‐heart beating donor.

Glenn Rendall – 24 May 2005

Thomas Berg – 24 May 2005

Marco Tabone, Luca Vigano, Cristiana Laudi, Alessandro Ferrero, Riccardo Pellerito, Lorenzo Capussotti – 23 May 2005

David V. Morrissey, Karin Blanchard, Lucinda Shaw, Kristi Jensen, Jennifer A. Lockridge, Brent Dickinson, James A. McSwiggen, Chandra Vargeese, Keith Bowman, Chris S. Shaffer, Barry A. Polisky, Shawn Zinnen – 23 May 2005 – To develop synthetic short interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules as therapeutic agents for systemic administration in vivo, chemical modifications were introduced into siRNAs targeted to conserved sites in hepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA. These modifications conferred significantly prolonged stability in human serum compared with unmodified siRNAs.

Karen F. Murray, Robert L. Carithers – 23 May 2005

Ulf Gustafsson, Lisbet Benthin, Lars Granström, Albert K. Groen, Staffan Sahlin, Curt Einarsson – 23 May 2005 – The aim of the present study was to elucidate the mechanisms of development of cholesterol crystals and gallstones during weight reduction in obese subjects. Twenty‐five morbidly obese, gallstone‐free subjects underwent vertical‐banded gastroplasty. Gallbladder bile was collected at the time of the operation via needle aspiration and 1.1–7.3 months after the operation via ultrasound‐guided transhepatic puncture of the gallbladder. The mean weight loss was 17 kg.

Shinichi Saito, Junichi Yamanaka, Koui Miura, Norio Nakao, Tomohiro Nagao, Takaaki Sugimoto, Tadamichi Hirano, Nobukazu Kuroda, Yuji Iimuro, Jiro Fujimoto – 23 May 2005 – Hepatectomy is a complicated operative procedure because of its anatomical complexity, vascular variability, and impaired hepatic function due to associated hepatitis or cirrhosis. Thus preoperative detailed topography and precise liver resection volume measurements should be obtained for a curative hepatectomy.

Kenichi Harada, Kumiko Isse, Takashi Kamihira, Shinji Shimoda, Yasuni Nakanuma – 23 May 2005 – Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ (PPARγ) is known to inhibit the production of proinflammatory cytokines. In Th1‐predominant diseases, PPARγ ligands can ameliorate clinical severity by downregulating the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is characterized by chronic destructive cholangitis with a Th1‐predominant cytokine milieu. Unusual immune responses to infectious agents are suspected to underlie its etiopathogenesis.

Kazutaka Obama, Katsuaki Ura, Meihua Li, Toyomasa Katagiri, Tatsuhiko Tsunoda, Akinari Nomura, Seiji Satoh, Yusuke Nakamura, Yoichi Furukawa – 23 May 2005 – Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is a neoplasm arising in the liver, and its incidence is increasing in Japan as well as in Western countries. Prognosis of patients with this type of tumor remains unsatisfactory because no effective chemotherapeutic drugs are available, we have no sensitive tumor markers to detect this tumor in its early stage, and it is difficult to identify a high‐risk group for the disease.