Antonio Cuadrado, Emilio Fábrega, Fernando Casafont, Fernando Pons‐Romero – 21 March 2005 – The aim of this study was to evaluate the rate of alcohol recidivism after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and its influence on the allograft and patient survival, as well as the development of comorbidities and de novo cancers. The study was performed on 54 subjects previously analyzed and transplanted in our center for ALD, whose follow‐up was prolonged to a mean of 99.2 (SD 31.7) months (range, 14–155).

Hideaki Okajima, Atsushi Kotera, Takayuki Takeichi, Mikako Ueno, Taketoshi Ishiko, Masahiko Hirota, Katsuhiro Asonuma, Eijiro Yamauchi, Yukihiro Inomata – 21 March 2005

Cyrille Féray – 21 March 2005

21 March 2005

Aileen Marshall, Simon Rushbrook, Lesley S. Morris, Ian S. Scott, Sarah L. Vowler, Susan E. Davies, Nicholas Coleman, Graeme Alexander – 21 March 2005 – Although graft infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) occurs in virtually all patients transplanted for HCV‐related liver disease, the outcome ranges from minimal disease to the rapid development of cirrhosis. Induction of hepatocyte cell cycle entry followed by inhibition of cell cycle progression has been proposed as a potential mechanism whereby HCV may cause hepatocyte dysfunction and may promote fibrogenesis.

J. Wallis Marsh, Sydney D. Finkelstein, Myron E. Schwartz, M. Isabel Fiel, Igor Dvorchik – 21 March 2005 – We analyzed global gene expression patterns of 91 human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) to define the molecular characteristics of the tumors and to test the prognostic value of the expression profiles. Unsupervised classification methods revealed two distinctive subclasses of HCC that are highly associated with patient survival. This association was validated via 5 independent supervised learning methods.

Salvador Benlloch, Marina Berenguer, Martín Prieto, José Miguel Rayón, Victoria Aguilera, Joaquín Berenguer – 21 March 2005 – Recurrent hepatitis C is a frequent event in liver transplantation (LT). Serial liver biopsies remain the best way of monitoring disease progression. Due to the limitations of a liver biopsy, there is an interest in developing noninvasive markers of liver fibrosis. While several models for predicting fibrosis have been constructed in patients who have not undergone transplantation, these are lacking in the transplant population.

Henna Rautiainen, Päivi Kärkkäinen, A‐L Karvonen, Heimo Nurmi, Pekka Pikkarainen, Hannu Nuutinen, Martti Färkkilä – 7 March 2005 – Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a safe medical therapy for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), but its effect on liver histology remains uncertain. Budesonide is a glucocorticoid with high receptor activity and high first‐pass metabolism in liver. We evaluated the combination of budesonide and UDCA on liver histology and compared this with UDCA alone in a 3‐year prospective, randomized, open multicenter study.

Takumi Teratani, Hanako Yamamoto, Kazuhiko Aoyagi, Hiroki Sasaki, Akira Asari, Gary Quinn, Hideo Sasaki, Masaaki Terada, Takahiro Ochiya – 1 March 2005 – The molecules responsible for hepatic differentiation from embryonic stem (ES) cells have yet to be elucidated. Here we have identified growth factors that allow direct hepatic fate‐specification from ES cells by using simple adherent monolayer culture conditions.

Florian Graepler, Barbara Verbeek, Tilmann Graeter, Irina Smirnow, Hwai Loong Kong, Detlef Schuppan, Michael Bauer, Reinhard Vonthein, Michael Gregor, Ulrich M. Lauer – 28 February 2005 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is regarded as a suitable target for antiangiogenic strategies. However, antiangiogenic agents aimed at single targets can be neutralized by upregulation of other proangiogenic factors. Therefore, combined approaches addressing at least two angiogenic targets should be more effective.