Sandrine Boyault, Aurélie Hérault, Charles Balabaud, Jessica Zucman‐Rossi – 22 February 2005

Aftab Ala, Jimo Borjigin, Arnold Rochwarger, Michael Schilsky – 22 February 2005 – Wilson Disease (WD) usually presents in the first decades of life, although rare patients have a later presentation. We report the clincial features, diagnostic evaluation, and outcome with treatment of two septuagenarian siblings evaluated as part of a research trial for treatment of neurological WD. The index case was a 72‐year‐old woman who suffered progressive neurological disability, then developed sub‐fulminant liver failure.

Ann‐Sofi Duberg, Marie Nordström, Anna Törner, Olle Reichard, Reinhild Strauss, Ragnhild Janzon, Erik Bäck, Karl Ekdahl – 22 February 2005 – The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), multiple myeloma (MM), thyroid cancer (TC), chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL), acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL), and Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). A Swedish cohort of 27,150 HCV‐infected persons notified during 1990‐2000 was included in the study.

Simona Urbani, Carolina Boni, Barbara Amadei, Paola Fisicaro, Simona Cerioni, Maria Antonietta Valli, Gabriele Missale, Carlo Ferrari – 22 February 2005 – To characterize acute‐phase hepatitis B virus (HBV)‐specific T cell responses associated with self‐limited and persistent HBV infections, we compared a patient with acute HBV/HCV coinfection, who was able to control HCV but developed chronic hepatitis B, with patients who resolved acute HBV infection spontaneously.

Hui‐Ching Wang, Wen‐Tsan Chang, Wen‐Wei Chang, Han‐Chieh Wu, Wenya Huang, Huan‐Yao Lei, Ming‐Derg Lai, Nelson Fausto, Ih‐Jen Su – 22 February 2005 – Naturally occurring mutants with a deletion in the pre‐S2 region of the large surface protein (ΔS2‐LHBs) are prevalent in serum and livers of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection associated with cirrhosis. The ΔS2‐LHBs protein is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and may induce ER stress. One interesting observation is the consistently clustered distribution of hepatocytes expressing ΔS2‐LHBs.

Caroline Janka, Carlo Selmi, M. Eric Gershwin, Hans Will, Thomas Sternsdorf – 22 February 2005 – Serum autoantibodies against components of nuclear dots (anti‐NDs), namely PML and Sp100, are specifically detected in 20% to 30% of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Although anti‐ND antibodies are nonpathogenic, the mechanisms that lead to this unique reactivity are critical to understanding the loss of immune tolerance in PBC. Importantly, Sp100 and PML are both covalently linked to small ubiquitin‐related modifiers (SUMOs).

Bernd Kronenberger, Eva Herrmann, Florence Micol, Michael von Wagner, Stefan Zeuzem – 22 February 2005

Qin Zhou, Xuhuai Ji, Lixin Chen, Harry B. Greenberg, Shelly C. Lu, M. Bishr Omary – 22 February 2005 – Mutation of the cytoskeletal intermediate filament proteins keratin 8 and keratin 18 (K8/K18) is associated with cirrhosis in humans, whereas transgenic mice that overexpress K18 Arg89→Cys (R89C) have significant predisposition to liver injury. To study the mechanism of keratin‐associated predisposition to liver injury, we used mouse microarrays to examine genetic changes associated with hepatocyte keratin mutation and assessed the consequences of such changes.

Naiara Beraza, Juan Martín Marqués, Eduardo Martínez‐Ansó, María Iñiguez, Jesús Prieto, Matilde Bustos – 22 February 2005 – Prostaglandins are hepatoprotective molecules generated in liver regeneration by the rapid induction of cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2). Cardiotrophin‐1 (CT‐1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are other hepatoprotective mediators upregulated at 24 hours after partial hepatectomy. The interactions among these molecules during liver regeneration have not yet been defined.

Stefan G. Hübscher, Alastair J. Strain – 22 February 2005