James P. Luyendyk, Jane F. Maddox, Christopher D. Green, Patricia E. Ganey, Robert A. Roth – 24 November 2004 – Coadministration of nonhepatotoxic doses of the histamine 2‐receptor antagonist ranitidine (RAN) and bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) results in hepatocellular injury in rats, the onset of which occurs in 3 to 6 hours. This reaction resembles RAN idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity in humans. Early fibrin deposition occurs in livers of rats cotreated with LPS/RAN. Accordingly, we tested the hypothesis that the hemostatic system contributes to liver injury in LPS/RAN‐treated rats.

Geoffrey C. Farrell – 24 November 2004

Kuan‐Der Lee, Tom Kwang‐Chun Kuo, Jacqueline Whang‐Peng, Yu‐Fen Chung, Ching‐Tai Lin, Shiu‐Huey Chou, Jim‐Ray Chen, Yi‐Peng Chen, Oscar Kuang‐Sheng Lee – 24 November 2004 – This study examined whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are stem cells originated from embryonic mesoderm, are able to differentiate into functional hepatocyte‐like cells in vitro. MSCs were isolated from human bone marrow and umbilical cord blood, and the surface phenotype and the mesodermal multilineage differentiation potentials of these cells were characterized and tested.

Constantino Fondevila, Xiu‐Da Shen, Seiichiro Tsuchiyashi, Kenichiro Yamashita, Eva Csizmadia, Charles Lassman, Ronald W. Busuttil, Jerzy W. Kupiec‐Weglinski, Fritz H. Bach – 24 November 2004 – Heme oxygenase (HO‐1) provides a cellular defense mechanism during oxidative stress and catalyzes the rate‐limiting step in heme metabolism that produces biliverdin (BV). The role of BV and its potential use in preventing ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) had never been studied.

Tin K. Mao, Paul A. Davis, Joseph A. Odin, Ross L. Coppel, M. Eric Gershwin – 24 November 2004 – The E2 component of mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC‐E2) is the immunodominant autoantigen of primary biliary cirrhosis. Whereas lipoylation of PDC‐E2 is essential for enzymatic activity and predominates under normal conditions, other biochemical systems exist that also target the lysine residue, including acylation of fatty acids or xenobiotics and ubiquitinylation.

Paul Klenerman, Nasser Semmo, Scott Ward – 24 November 2004 – Regulatory T (T(R)) cells consist of phenotypically and functionally distinct CD4+ and CD8+ T‐cell subsets engaged both in maintaining self‐tolerance and in preventing anti–non–self effector responses (microbial, tumor, transplant, and so on) that may be harmful to the host.

Elwyn Elias – 24 November 2004

Andres T. Blei – 24 November 2004

Eyal Shteyer, Yunjun Liao, Louis J. Muglia, Paul W. Hruz, David A. Rudnick – 24 November 2004 – The liver responds to injury with regulated tissue regeneration. During early regeneration, the liver accumulates fat. Neither the mechanisms responsible for nor the functional significance of this transient steatosis have been determined. In this study, we examined patterns of gene expression associated with hepatic fat accumulation in regenerating liver and tested the hypothesis that disruption of hepatic fat accumulation would be associated with impaired hepatic regeneration.

Bernd Kronenberger, Eva Herrmann, Florence Micol, Michael von Wagner, Stefan Zeuzem – 24 November 2004 – The aim of the present study was to compare viral kinetics between patients with chronic hepatitis C and persistently normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and those with elevated ALT levels.