Edmund J. Bini, John McGready – 19 April 2005 – Although cirrhosis is a known risk factor for gallstones, little is known about gallbladder disease (GBD) in individuals with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We determined the association between chronic HCV infection and GBD in a representative sample of adults in the United States. Data on HCV infection and GBD were available for 13,465 persons 20 to 74 years of age who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Despina Katsika, Andrej Grjibovski, Curt Einarsson, Frank Lammert, Paul Lichtenstein, Hanns‐Ulrich Marschall – 19 April 2005 – The contribution of hereditary and environmental factors to the pathogenesis of symptomatic gallstone disease is still unclear. We estimated the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors by analyzing a large population of twins.

Mark W. Russo – 19 April 2005

Wladimiro Jiménez – 19 April 2005

Motoyuki Otsuka, Naoya Kato, Masaru Moriyama, Hiroyoshi Taniguchi, Yue Wang, Narayan Dharel, Takao Kawabe, Masao Omata – 19 April 2005 – The persistent nature of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection suggests that HCV encodes proteins that enable it to overcome host antiviral responses. Toll‐like receptor 3 (TLR3)‐mediated signaling, which recognizes the double‐stranded RNA that is produced during viral replication and induces type I interferons, including interferon β (IFN‐β), is crucial to the host defense against viruses.

Aimee Landar, Victor M. Darley‐Usmar – 19 April 2005

José M. Mato, Shelly C. Lu – 19 April 2005

Amanda J. Robe, John A. Kirby, David E. J. Jones, Jeremy M. Palmer – 19 April 2005 – The key immunological event in the pathogenesis of the autoimmune liver disease primary biliary cirrhosis is breakdown of T‐cell self‐tolerance to pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC). The mechanism resulting in this breakdown of tolerance remains unclear.

Stefan Wirth, Heidrun Pieper‐Boustani, Thomas Lang, Antje Ballauff, Ulrike Kullmer, Patrick Gerner, Philip Wintermeyer, Andreas Jenke – 19 April 2005 – Peginterferon plus ribavirin is standard therapy for adults with chronic hepatitis C. As no data are available for children, the aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of peginterferon alfa‐2b in combination with ribavirin in chronically infected children. Genotypes, alanine aminotransferase levels, and different routes of viral transmission were considered.

Emanuele Durante‐Mangoni, Rosa Zampino, Giuseppe Ruggiero, Luigi E. Adinolfi – 19 April 2005