Susceptibility of murine periportal hepatocytes to hypoxia‐reoxygenation: Role for NO and Kupffer cell–derived oxidants

Hisashi Taniai, Ian N. Hines, Sulaiman Bharwani, Ronald E. Maloney, Yuji Nimura, Bifeng Gao, Sonia C. Flores, Joe M. McCord, Matthew B. Grisham, Tak Yee Aw – 27 May 2004 – Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) is an important problem in liver resection and transplantation that is associated with hepatocellular dysfunction and injury. This study was designed to investigate whether a difference in hepatocyte susceptibility occurs in the periportal (PP) and/or perivenous (PV) zones in response to hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R), and to delineate the mechanisms underlying this susceptibility.

Hepatitis C virus kinetics and host responses associated with disease and outcome of infection in chimpanzees

Marian E. Major, Harel Dahari, Kathleen Mihalik, Montserrat Puig, Charles M. Rice, Avidan U. Neumann, Stephen M. Feinstone – 27 May 2004 – To study determinants of clinical outcome following HCV infection, viral kinetics, immune events, and intrahepatic cytokine markers were compared in 10 naive chimpanzees. Four of the animals cleared HCV; 6 developed persistent infections. All animals developed similar acute infections with increasing viremia from 1 to 2 weeks, followed by alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevations and seroconversion.

Oxidative damage is increased in human liver tissue adjacent to hepatocellular carcinoma

Christoph Jüngst, Bin Cheng, Ralph Gehrke, Volker Schmitz, Hans Dieter Nischalke, Jan Ramakers, Peter Schramel, Peter Schirmacher, Tilman Sauerbruch, Wolfgang Helmut Caselmann – 27 May 2004 – Accumulation of genetic alterations in hepatocarcinogenesis is closely associated with chronic inflammatory liver disease. 8‐oxo‐2′‐deoxyguanosine (8‐oxo‐dG), the major promutagenic DNA adduct caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS), leads to G:C → T:A transversions.

The role of endothelin‐1 and the endothelin B receptor in the pathogenesis of hepatopulmonary syndrome in the rat

Yiqun Ling, Junlan Zhang, Bao Luo, Daisheng Song, Lichuan Liu, Liping Tang, Cecil R. Stockard, William E. Grizzle, David D. Ku, Michael B. Fallon – 27 May 2004 – Endothelin‐1 (ET‐1) stimulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) via pulmonary endothelial endothelin B (ETB) receptors and pulmonary intravascular macrophage accumulation with expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) are implicated in experimental hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) after common bile duct ligation (CBDL).

Tauroursodeoxycholic acid protects rat hepatocytes from bile acid‐induced apoptosis via activation of survival pathways

Marieke H. Schoemaker, Laura Conde de la Rosa, Manon Buist‐Homan, Titia E. Vrenken, Rick Havinga, Klaas Poelstra, Hidde J. Haisma, Peter L. M. Jansen, Han Moshage – 27 May 2004 – Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is used in the treatment of cholestatic liver diseases, but its mechanism of action is not yet well defined. The aim of this study was to explore the protective mechanisms of the taurine‐conjugate of UDCA (tauroursodeoxycholic acid [TUDCA]) against glycochenodeoxycholic acid (GCDCA)‐induced apoptosis in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes.

Effect of murine liver cell proliferation on herpes viral behavior: Implications for oncolytic viral therapy

Keith A. Delman, Jonathan S. Zager, Amit Bhargava, Henrik Petrowsky, Sandeep Malhotra, Michael I. Ebright, Joseph J. Bennett, Niraj J. Gusani, David A. Kooby, Gretchen D. Roberts, Yuman Fong – 27 May 2004 – Replication‐competent herpes simplex oncolytic viruses are promising anticancer agents that partly target increased DNA synthesis in tumor cells. Investigators have proposed that these DNA viruses may be combined with liver resection to enhance killing of liver malignancies.

Murine hepatocyte cell lines promote expansion and differentiation of NK cells from stem cell precursors

Veronica Bordoni, Tonino Alonzi, Chiara Agrati, Fabrizio Poccia, Giovanna Borsellino, Giorgio Mancino, Gian Maria Fimia, Mauro Piacentini, Antonio Fantoni, Marco Tripodi – 27 May 2004 – While fetal liver is a major hematopoietic organ, normal adult liver provides a suitable microenvironment for a variety of immune cells and, in several pathological conditions, may become a site of extramedullary hematopoiesis. The direct influence of hepatocytes on hematopoietic cell differentiation is poorly understood.

Progressive fibrosis during corticosteroid therapy of autoimmune hepatitis

Albert J. Czaja, Herschel A. Carpenter – 27 May 2004 – Hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis are possible consequences of corticosteroid‐treated autoimmune hepatitis. Our aims were to determine the frequency of progressive fibrosis and the factors associated with this progression. Two hundred seventy‐seven liver tissue specimens that had been obtained from 73 patients were interpreted in batch under code by a single pathologist.

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