Frank V. Schiødt, Lorenzo Rossaro, Richard T. Stravitz, A. Obaid Shakil, Raymond T. Chung, William M. Lee, Acute Liver Failure Study Group – 23 September 2005 – Serum concentrations of the actin scavenger Gc‐globulin are reduced in acute liver failure (ALF). Prospectively, we tested Gc‐globulin's value to predict outcome following ALF using sera from 182 patients with ALF from the U.S. ALF Study Group. Admission serum levels of Gc‐globulin (normal range: 350‐500 mg/L) were studied by an immunonephelometric method.

Jennifer E. Guy, Peiqing Qian, Jeffrey A. Lowell, Marion G. Peters – 23 September 2005 – Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) recurs after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in up to one‐third of patients. These patients are typically asymptomatic, can be identified by abnormal liver biochemistries, and have evidence of histologic recurrence on liver biopsy. The effect of treatment on recurrence has not been determined. This pilot study evaluates the factors associated with recurrent PBC and describes our experience using ursodeoxycholic acid treatment in this patient population.

Lois E. Krahn, Andrea DiMartini – 23 September 2005

Gregory A. Poland, John J. Poterucha – 23 September 2005

Roman E. Perri, Si Houn Hahn, Matthew J. Ferber, Patrick S. Kamath – 20 September 2005

Verena Keitel, Martin Burdelski, Dietrich Keppler, Dieter Häussinger, Ralf Kubitz – 20 September 2005

Cédric Coulouarn, Grégory Lefebvre, Romain Daveau, Franck Letellier, Martine Hiron, Laurent Drouot, Maryvonne Daveau, Jean‐Philippe Salier – 20 September 2005 – Given the unknown timing of the onset of an acute systemic inflammation in humans, the fine tuning of cascades and pathways involved in the associated hepatocyte response cannot be appraised in vivo. Therefore, the authors used a genome‐wide and kinetic analysis in the human Hep3B hepatoma cell line challenged with a conditioned medium from bacterial lipopolysaccharide‐stimulated macrophages.

Tin Ky Mao, Zhe‐Xiong Lian, Carlo Selmi, Yasunori Ichiki, Paul Ashwood, Aftab A. Ansari, Ross L. Coppel, Shinji Shimoda, Hiromi Ishibashi, M. Eric Gershwin – 20 September 2005 – The role of the adaptive immune response, with regard to the development of autoantibodies, has been extensively studied in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). However, the importance of innate immunity has been noted only recently.

Helen H. Wang, David Q.‐H. Wang – 20 September 2005 – It has been found that polymorphisms in the apolipoprotein (APO)‐B gene are associated with cholesterol gallstones in humans. We hypothesized that APO‐B plays a major regulatory role in the response of biliary cholesterol secretion to high dietary cholesterol and contributes to cholesterol gallstone formation.

Susana Solá, Joana D. Amaral, Rui E. Castro, Rita M. Ramalho, Pedro M. Borralho, Betsy T. Kren, Hirotoshi Tanaka, Cifford J. Steer, Cecília M. P. Rodrigues – 20 September 2005 – Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) inhibits classical mitochondrial pathways of apoptosis by either directly stabilizing mitochondrial membranes or modulating specific upstream targets. Furthermore, UDCA regulates apoptosis‐related genes from transforming growth factor β1 (TGF‐β1)–induced hepatocyte apoptosis by a nuclear steroid receptor (NSR)–dependent mechanism.