Ming‐Chin Yu, Cheng‐Hsu Chen, Xiaoyan Liang, Lianfu Wang, Chandrashekhar R. Gandhi, John J. Fung, Lina Lu, Shiguang Qian – 24 November 2004 – In the injured liver, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) secrete many different cytokines, recruit lymphocytes, and thus participate actively in the pathogenesis of liver disease. Little is known of the role of HSCs in immune responses. In this study, HSCs isolated from C57BL/10 (H2b) mice were found to express scant key surface molecules in the quiescent stage.

Francesco Salerno, Massimo Cazzaniga – 24 November 2004

24 November 2004

Nicolas Plumb‐Rudewiez, Frédéric Clotman, Hélène Strick‐Marchand, Christophe E. Pierreux, Mary C. Weiss, Guy G. Rousseau, Frédéric P. Lemaigre – 24 November 2004 – A network of liver‐enriched transcription factors controls differentiation and morphogenesis of the liver. These factors interact via direct, feedback, and autoregulatory loops. Previous work has suggested that hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)‐6/OC‐1 and HNF‐3α/FoxA1 participate coordinately in this hepatic network. We investigated how HNF‐6 controls the expression of Foxa1.

Florian van Bömmel, Thomas Wünsche, Stefan Mauss, Petra Reinke, Alexandra Bergk, Dirk Schürmann, Bertram Wiedenmann, Thomas Berg – 24 November 2004 – Adefovir dipivoxil was recently approved for the treatment of wild‐type and lamivudine‐resistant hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, a congender of adefovir that is used in the treatment of HIV infected patients, has recently been shown to also be effective in patients with lamivudine‐resistant HBV infection.

Groupe d'Etude et de Traitement du Carcinome Hépatocellulaire (GRETCH) – 24 November 2004 – The growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is thought to be dependent on androgens, as androgen receptors are present in most of these tumors. The aim of this multicenter trial was to assess the effect of antiandrogens in patients who have advanced HCC. Male patients with advanced HCC were randomized into 2 groups treated with (1) leuprorelin (3.75 mg/mo subcutaneously), flutamide (750 mg/d orally), and tamoxifen (30 mg/d orally) or (2) tamoxifen alone (30 mg/d orally) administered until death.

Angela M. Valverde, Isabel Fabregat, Deborah J. Burks, Morris F. White, Manuel Benito – 24 November 2004 – To assess the role of insulin action and inaction in the liver, immortalized hepatocyte cell lines have been generated from insulin receptor substrate (IRS)‐2−/− and wild‐type mice. Using this model, we have recently demonstrated that the lack of IRS‐2 in neonatal hepatocytes resulted in insulin resistance.

Morris Sherman, Andrew Klein – 24 November 2004

Michaël Schwarzinger, Sahar Dewedar, Claire Rekacewicz, Khaled Mahmoud Abd Elaziz, Arnaud Fontanet, Fabrice Carrat, Mostafa Kamal Mohamed – 24 November 2004 – Previous Western studies showed a consistent and marked reduction in health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, these studies were conducted on patients whose knowledge of their serological status may have affected their HRQOL.

Teh‐Ia Huo, Jaw‐Ching Wu, Shou‐Dong Lee – 24 November 2004