Maciej Wojcicki, Elizabeth B. Haagsma, Annette S.H. Gouw, Maarten J.H. Slooff, Robert J. Porte – 30 August 2004 – Congenital absence of the portal vein (CAPV) is a very rare venous malformation in which mesenteric venous blood drains directly into the systemic circulation. There is no portal perfusion of the liver and no portal hypertension. This abnormality is usually coincidentally discovered in children, the majority of whom have no signs of encephalopathy and only slightly abnormal liver function tests.

30 August 2004

Yasuhito Tanaka, Izumi Hasegawa, Takanobu Kato, Etsuro Orito, Noboru Hirashima, Subrat K. Acharya, Robert G. Gish, Anna Kramvis, Michael C. Kew, Namiko Yoshihara, Santosh Man Shrestha, Mobin Khan, Yuzo Miyakawa, Masashi Mizokami – 30 August 2004 – There are two subtypes of hepatitis B virus genotype A (HBV/A) and they are provisionally designated Aa (“a” standing for Africa/Asia) and Ae (“e” for Europe). In a case‐control study, 78 HBV/Aa, 78HBV/Ae, and 78HBV/D carriers from several countries were compared.

Philip N. Newsome, John Tsiaoussis, Steven Masson, Robert Buttery, Cameron Livingston, Ian Ansell, James A. Ross, Tariq Sethi, Peter C. Hayes, John N. Plevris – 30 August 2004 – Hepatocyte transplantation is restricted by the impaired ability of hepatocytes to engraft and survive in the damaged liver. Understanding the mechanisms that control this process will permit the development of strategies to improve engraftment. We studied changes in liver matrix during acute injury and delineated the mechanisms that perturb the successful adhesion and engraftment of hepatocytes.

Minhua Wang, Yongjun Tan, Robert H. Costa, Ai‐Xuan L. Holterman – 30 August 2004 – Disruption of the enterohepatic bile acid circulation during biliary tract obstruction leads to profound perturbation of the cholesterol and bile acid metabolic pathways. Several families of nuclear receptor proteins have been shown to modulate this critical process by regulating hepatic cholesterol catabolism and bile acid synthesis through the transcriptional control of cholesterol 7‐α hydroxylase (CYP7A1).

Matteo Ravaioli, Giorgio Ercolani, Matteo Cescon, Gaetano Vetrone, Claudio Voci, Walter Franco Grigioni, Antonia D'Errico, Giorgio Ballardini, Antonino Cavallari, Gian Luca Grazi – 30 August 2004 – The selection criteria in liver transplantation for HCC are a matter of debate. We reviewed our series, comparing two periods: before and after 1996, when we started to apply the Milan criteria. The study population was composed of patients with a preoperative diagnosis of HCC, confirmed by the pathological report and with a survival of >1 year.

Isabel Aguilera, Jose M. Sousa, Francisco Gavilán, Angel Bernardos, Ingeborg Wichmann, Antonio Nuñez‐Roldán – 30 August 2004 – A new form of autoimmune hepatitis referred to as de novo, has been reported after liver transplantation during the past 5 years. The features are identical to those of classical autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), but the facts involved in the onset and outcome of this type of graft dysfunction are still unclear.

Ernesto P. Molmenti, Davinder S. Grover, Paul J. Thuluvath, Hyun S. Kim, Duke E. Cameron, Andreas G. Tzakis, Andrew S. Klein – 30 August 2004

Sophie Girard, Erik Vossman, David E. Misek, Philippe Podevin, Samir Hanash, Christian Bréchot, Laura Beretta – 30 August 2004 – Most individuals exposed to hepatitis C virus (HCV) become chronically infected and are predisposed to liver disease. The mechanisms underlying viral persistence and disease progression are unknown. A role for the HCV NS5A protein in viral replication and interferon resistance has been demonstrated. To identify mechanisms affected by NS5A, we analyzed the gene expression of Huh7 cells expressing NS5A and control cells using oligonucleotide microarrays.

He‐Xin Yan, Hong‐Yang Wang, Rui Zhang, Lei Chen, Bao‐An Li, Shu‐Qin Liu, Hui‐Fang Cao, Xiu‐Hua Qiu, Yun‐Feng Shan, Zhong‐Hua Yan, Hong‐Ping Wu, Ye‐Xiong Tan, Meng‐Chao Wu – 30 August 2004 – Signal regulatory protein (SIRP) α1 is a member of the SIRP family that undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation and binds SHP‐2 tyrosine phosphatase in response to various mitogens. The expression levels of SIRPα1 were decreased in HCC tissues, compared with the matched normal tissues.