Murine alanine aminotransferase: cDNA cloning, functional expression, and differential gene regulation in mouse fatty liver

Sanjay B. Jadaho, Rong‐Ze Yang, Qiang Lin, Hong Hu, Frank A. Anania, Alan R. Shuldiner, Da‐Wei Gong – 26 April 2004 – Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is a widely used index of liver integrity or hepatocellular damage in clinics as well as a key enzyme in intermediatary metabolism. In this study, we have cloned the complementary DNAs of murine homologues of human alanine aminotransferase 1 and 2 (ALT1 and ALT2). The deduced peptides of murine ALT1 (mALT1) and ALT2 (mALT2) share 87% and 93% identity, respectively, with their human counterparts at the amino acid level.

A double‐blind randomized controlled trial of infliximab associated with prednisolone in acute alcoholic hepatitis

Sylvie Naveau, Sylvie Chollet‐Martin, Sébastien Dharancy, Philippe Mathurin, Pauline Jouet, Marie‐Astrid Piquet, Thierry Davion, Frédéric Oberti, Philippe Broët, Dominique Emilie, for the Foie‐Alcool group of the Association Française pour l'Etude du Foie (AFEF) – 26 April 2004 – Tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) may contribute to the progression of acute alcoholic hepatitis (AAH). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an association of infliximab and prednisolone at reducing the 2‐month mortality rate among patients with severe AAH.

An oncolytic adenoviral vector of Smac increases antitumor activity of TRAIL against HCC in human cells and in mice

Zifei Pei, Liang Chu, Weiguo Zou, Zilai Zhang, Songbo Qiu, Rong Qi, Jinfa Gu, Cheng Qian, Xinyuan Liu – 26 April 2004 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) displays a high resistance to tumor necrosis factor–related apoptosis–inducing ligand (TRAIL)–mediated cell death. To increase sensitivity of HCC cells to TRAIL, we have constructed an oncolytic adenoviral vector (ZD55) and used this vector to deliver second mitochondria‐derived activator of caspases (Smac) and TRAIL genes (ZD55‐Smac and ZD55‐TRAIL, respectively) into HCC cells.

Topoisomerase inhibitor camptothecin sensitizes mouse hepatocytes in vitro and in vivo to TNF‐mediated apoptosis

Hannes Hentze, Markus Latta, Gerald Künstle, Saravanakumar Dhakshinamoorthy, Poh Yong Ng, Alan G. Porter, Albrecht Wendel – 26 April 2004 – Topoisomerases are nuclear enzymes that maintain and modulate DNA structure. Inhibitors of topoisomerases like camptothecin (CPT), etoposide, and others are widely used antitumor drugs that interfere with transcription, induce DNA strand breaks, and trigger apoptosis preferentially in dividing cells.

Improved prediction of fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C using measures of insulin resistance in a probability index

Archana Sud, Jason M. Hui, Geoffrey C. Farrell, Priyanka Bandara, James G. Kench, Carolyn Fung, Rita Lin, Dev Samarasinghe, Christopher Liddle, Geoffrey W. McCaughan, Jacob George – 26 April 2004 – We sought to develop a clinically useful index comprising standard and physiologically relevant variables to predict the probability of significant hepatic fibrosis in subjects with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Fibrosis was graded as mild (stages F0 or F1) or significant (stages F2–F4).

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