Hepatitis B virus mutations associated with fulminant hepatitis induce apoptosis in primary Tupaia hepatocytes

Thomas F. Baumert, Chun Yang, Peter Schürmann, Josef Köck, Christian Ziegler, Carsten Grüllich, Michael Nassal, T. Jake Liang, Hubert E. Blum, Fritz von Weizsäcker – 19 January 2005 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) core promoter mutations have been implicated in the pathogenesis of fulminant hepatitis B. Due to the limited availability of primary human hepatocytes, the functional characterization of HBV mutants has been performed predominantly in transformed cells, which may not represent ideal model systems for studying virus–cell interactions.

NFκB‐mediated upregulation of bcl‐xl restrains TRAIL‐mediated apoptosis in murine viral hepatitis

Lars Zender, Sebastian Hütker, Bettina Mundt, Morlen Waltemathe, Christian Klein, Christian Trautwein, Nisar P. Malek, Michael Peter Manns, Florian Kühnel, Stefan Kubicka – 19 January 2005 – Inhibition of NFκB enhances the susceptibility of cancer to TRAIL‐mediated apoptosis and is suggested as a strategy for cancer therapy. Because the role of NFκB in TRAIL‐mediated apoptosis of hepatocytes is unknown, we investigated the influence of NFκB‐inhibition in death ligand‐mediated apoptosis in hepatitis.

Differential lymphotoxin‐β and interferon gamma signaling during mouse liver regeneration induced by chronic and acute injury

Barbara Akhurst, Vance Matthews, Kirsten Husk, Mark J. Smyth, Lawrence J. Abraham, George C. Yeoh – 19 January 2005 – The liver regenerates after acute injury via hepatocyte cell division; during chronic injury, when hepatocyte replication is impaired or blocked, liver progenitor oval cells mediate liver regeneration. If both regeneration options are blocked in animal models, then liver failure and death ensues. The mechanisms underlying oval cell induction, proliferation, and subsequent liver regeneration remain poorly characterized.

Serum bilirubin levels and mortality after myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

Ted A. Gooley, Pankaj Rajvanshi, H. Gary Schoch, George B. McDonald – 19 January 2005 – Many patients who undergo hematopoietic cell transplantation experience liver injury. We examined the association of serum bilirubin levels with nonrelapse mortality by day +200, testing the hypothesis that the duration of jaundice up to a given point in time provides more prognostic information than either the maximum bilirubin value or the value at that point in time. We studied 1,419 consecutive patients transplanted from allogeneic donors.

Outcome in adulthood of biliary atresia: A study of 63 patients who survived for over 20 years with their native liver

Panayotis Lykavieris, Christophe Chardot, Maroun Sokhn, Frédéric Gauthier, Jacques Valayer, Olivier Bernard – 19 January 2005 – To define the long‐term prognosis of children undergoing the Kasai operation for biliary atresia, a retrospective study was undertaken comprising 271 patients operated between 1968 and 1983. Twenty years after surgery, 63 (23%) were alive with their native liver.

High‐dose ribavirin in combination with standard dose peginterferon for treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C

Karin Lindahl, Lars Stahle, Annette Bruchfeld, Robert Schvarcz – 19 January 2005 – Improved treatment regimens for patients with chronic hepatitis C, genotype 1 and high viral load are needed. Increasing the dose of ribavirin has increased the response rate, but experience with doses of more than 1,200 mg/day is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and tolerance to treatment with a high and individualized dose of ribavirin in combination with peginterferon.

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