Atsushi Yanagitani, Sadako Yamada, Sakiko Yasui, Takashi Shimomura, Rie Murai, Yoshiyuki Murawaki, Koichi Hashiguchi, Takamasa Kanbe, Toshiya Saeki, Miho Ichiba, Yoshitada Tanabe, Yoko Yoshida, Shin‐ichi Morino, Akihiro Kurimasa, Nobumitsu Usuda, Hidetoshi Yamazaki, Takahiro Kunisada, Hisao Ito, Yoshikazu Murawaki, Goshi Shiota – 13 August 2004 – Although attention has focused on the chemopreventive action of retinoic acid (RA) in hepatocarcinogenesis, the functional role of RA in the liver has yet to be clarified.

Nektarios Dikopoulos, Petra Riedl, Reinhold Schirmbeck, Jörg Reimann – 13 August 2004 – Vaccines for the prophylactic and/or therapeutic immunization against hepatotropic pathogens (e.g., hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus) should establish long‐lasting, specific antiviral effector/memory CD8+ T cell immunity in the liver. We describe a novel peptide‐based vaccine in which antigenic major histocompatibility complex Class I–binding peptides are fused to a cationic (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus tat‐derived) domain and complexed to immune‐stimulating oligonucleotides.

Yi‐Cheng Chen, Yun‐Fan Liaw – 13 August 2004

Xavier Forns, Miquel Navasa, Juan Rodés – 13 August 2004

Gary A. Abrams, Sachin S. Kunde, Audrey J. Lazenby, Ronald H. Clements – 13 August 2004 – Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a progressive form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that can lead to hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis. Portal fibrosis in the absence of NASH, called isolated portal fibrosis (IPF), has received less attention and has not been classified as a spectrum of NAFLD.

Anne M. Wertheimer, Antony Bakke, Hugo R. Rosen – 13 August 2004 – Chronic liver disease has been shown to be associated with diminished humoral and cellular immune function. Although antigen‐presenting cells (APC) that initiate immune responses include various cells (B cells, endothelial cells, macrophages, etc.), the dendritic cell (DC) is a professional APC that activates naive T cells most efficiently.

John C. Bucuvalas, Lan Zeng, Ravinder Anand, The Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (SPLIT) Research Group – 23 July 2004 – The resources that are directed towards the care of liver transplant recipients are substantial. Approximately 100 million dollars are spent on the hospitalization of the 400–500 children in the United States who undergo liver transplantation each year.

Ann S. Fulcher – 23 July 2004

Peter Faybik, Claus‐Georg Krenn, Amir Baker, Daniel Lahner, Gabriela Berlakovich, Heinz Steltzer, Hubert Hetz – 23 July 2004 – Plasma disappearance rate of indocyanine green (PDRICG) has been proposed for assessment of liver function in liver transplants donors and recipients, in patients with chronic liver failure, and as a prognostic factor in critically ill patients. The assessment of PDRICG using a newly developed noninvasive digital pulse densitometry method was simultaneously compared to invasive aortic fiber‐optic method in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

W. Ray Kim, John J. Poterucha, Walter K. Kremers, Michael B. Ishitani, E. Rolland Dickson – 23 July 2004 – Important innovations, such as hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) and lamivudine, have been introduced to the care of patients undergoing liver transplantation (OLT) for viral hepatitis B (HBV) (over the last 15 years). We analyzed survival of OLT recipients with HBV in the United States to examine the effect of these innovations.