Neil Kaplowitz – 19 April 2005

Jay H. Hoofnagle – 19 April 2005

Julie Polson, William M. Lee – 19 April 2005

Nasser Semmo, Cheryl L. Day, Scott M. Ward, Michaela Lucas, Gillian Harcourt, Andrew Loughry, Paul Klenerman – 19 April 2005 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) becomes persistent in the majority of infected individuals. In doing so, the virus evades host adaptive immune responses, although the mechanisms responsible in this evasion are not clear. Several groups have demonstrated weak or absent HCV‐specific CD4+ T cell responses during chronic HCV infection using proliferation assays and, more recently, class II tetramers.

Karen L. Swanson, Russell H. Wiesner, Michael J. Krowka – 19 April 2005 – Few data exist concerning survival after the diagnosis of hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS). Although orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) frequently results in complete resolution of HPS, the relationship between transplantation and survival has not been described. The study rationale was to describe long‐term survival in patients with HPS. Data were derived from patients diagnosed with HPS at Mayo Clinic (n = 61) between 1985 and 2002, including those undergoing OLT (n = 24) and those who did not (n = 37).

Takayoshi Fukutomi, Yonghong Zhou, Shigenobu Kawai, Hidetoshi Eguchi, Jack R. Wands, Jisu Li – 19 April 2005 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein has been implicated in the development of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here we report that expression of HCV core protein by transient transfection increased cell proliferation, DNA synthesis, and cell cycle progression in Huh‐7 cells, a human HCC‐derived cell line. Culture supernatant from transfected cells also harbored a growth‐promoting effect.

Juan A. Pineda, Manuel Romero‐Gómez, Fernando Díaz‐García, José A. Girón‐González, José L. Montero, Julián Torre‐Cisneros, Raúl J. Andrade, Mercedes González‐Serrano, José Aguilar, Manuela Aguilar‐Guisado, José M. Navarro, Javier Salmerón, Francisco J. Caballero‐Granado, José A. García‐García – 30 March 2005 – The impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection on the survival of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐related end‐stage liver disease (ESLD) is unknown.

John T. Brooling, Jean S. Campbell, Claudia Mitchell, George C. Yeoh, Nelson Fausto – 29 March 2005 – Hepatocytes and intrahepatic progenitor cells (oval cells) have similar responses to most growth factors but rarely proliferate together. Oval cells constitute a reserve compartment that is activated when hepatocyte proliferation is inhibited. Interferon γ (IFN‐γ) increases in liver injury that involves oval cell responses, but it is not upregulated during liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy.

Priska Kaufmann, Michael Török, Anya Hänni, Paul Roberts, Rodolfo Gasser, Stephan Krähenbühl – 29 March 2005 – Treatment with benzarone or benzbromarone can be associated with hepatic injury. Both drugs share structural similarities with amiodarone, a well‐known mitochondrial toxin. Therefore, we investigated the hepatotoxicity of benzarone and benzbromarone as well as the analogues benzofuran and 2‐butylbenzofuran. In isolated rat hepatocytes, amiodarone, benzarone, and benzbromarone (20 μmol/L) decreased mitochondrial membrane potential by 23%, 54% or 81%, respectively.

Jorge A. Marrero, Robert J. Fontana, Ashley Barrat, Frederick Askari, Hari S. Conjeevaram, Grace L. Su, Anna S. Lok – 28 March 2005 – Currently there is no consensus as to which staging system is best in predicting the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aims of this study were to identify independent predictors of survival and to compare 7 available prognostic staging systems in patients with HCC. A total of 239 consecutive patients with cirrhosis and HCC seen between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2003, were included.