Hepatology highlights
Elwyn Elias – 24 May 2005
Chronic liver injury during obstructive sleep apnea
Florence Tanné, Frédéric Gagnadoux, Olivier Chazouillères, Bernard Fleury, Dominique Wendum, Elisabeth Lasnier, Bernard Lebeau, Raoul Poupon, Lawrence Serfaty – 24 May 2005 – Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at risk for the development of fatty liver as a result of being overweight. Several data suggest that OSA per se could be a risk factor of liver injury; ischemic hepatitis during OSA has been reported, and OSA is an independent risk factor for insulin resistance.
Liver transplantation for severe intrahepatic non‐cirrhotic portal hypertension
J. Michael Henderson – 24 May 2005
Tobacco use following liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease: An underestimated problem
Andrea DiMartini, Lubna Javed, Sarah Russell, Mary Amanda Dew, Mary Grace Fitzgerald, Ashok Jain, John Fung – 24 May 2005 – Alcohol and tobacco use commonly co‐occur, with at least 90% of those with an alcohol problem also using tobacco.
A randomized, controlled crossover trial of ondansetron in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and fatigue
Jeremy J. Theal, Mohssen N. Toosi, Larisa Girlan, Ronald J. Heslegrave, Pierre‐Michel Huet, Kelly W. Burak, Mark Swain, George A. Tomlinson, E. Jenny Heathcote – 24 May 2005 – Fatigue is common in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Altered central serotonergic neurotransmission may be involved in its pathogenesis. This multicenter, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, crossover trial evaluated the efficacy of ondansetron, a selective 5‐HT3 receptor subtype antagonist, for treating fatigue in PBC.
Survey of attitudes of AASLD members toward balloon tamponade
Jasmohan Singh Bajaj, Ashwin Ananthakrishnan, Kia Saeian – 24 May 2005
Does the hepatic circulation predict morphological liver volume?
J. Michael Henderson – 24 May 2005
Long‐term follow‐up of peginterferon and lamivudine combination treatment in HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis B
Henry Lik‐Yuen Chan, Alex Yui Hui, Vincent Wai‐Sun Wong, Angel Mei‐Ling Chim, May‐Ling Wong, Joseph Jao‐Yiu Sung – 23 May 2005 – We have previously demonstrated that combination peginterferon and lamivudine treatment has superior antiviral efficacy to lamivudine monotherapy in chronic hepatitis B. In this study, we investigated the long‐term posttreatment virological response to this combination treatment.
An intronic silencer element is responsible for specific zonal expression of glutamine synthetase in the rat liver
Frank Gaunitz, Danilo Deichsel, Kerstin Heise, Max Werth, Ulf Anderegg, Rolf Gebhardt – 23 May 2005 – The most striking phenomenon of glutamine synthetase (GS) expression in the liver is its unique restriction to cells surrounding the terminal hepatic venules. Expression is positively regulated by elements located in the 5′‐upstream region and in the first intron of the gene. It was long believed that transcription factors present in GS‐positive cells and absent in GS‐negative cells are responsible for the phenomenon of zonal expression.
Activation of CREB by tauroursodeoxycholic acid protects cholangiocytes from apoptosis induced by mTOR inhibition
LiFu Wang, Anne‐Christine Piguet, Karin Schmidt, Thierry Tordjmann, Jean‐François Dufour – 23 May 2005 – Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is a cytoprotective bile acid frequently prescribed to patients with cholestatic diseases. Several mechanisms of action have been investigated, but the possibility that cyclic adenosine monophosphate responsive element binding protein (CREB), a transcription factor promoting cell survival, mediates TUDCA's protective effects has not been considered.