Luping Guo, Katharine S. Richardson, Lindsay M. Tucker, Mark A. Doll, David W. Hein, Gavin E. Arteel – 30 August 2004 – It has been shown that the renin‐angiotensin system (RAS) plays key roles in the development of fibrosis in numerous organs, including the liver. Other studies have suggested that the RAS also may play roles in diseases of chronic inflammation. However, whether the RAS also can mediate acute inflammation in liver is unclear.

Lynn B. Dustin – 30 August 2004 – Immunoglobulin GM and KM allotypes—genetic markers of γ and κ chains, respectively—are associated with immune responsiveness to several infectious pathogens and with survival in certain viral epidemics. We hypothesized that GM and KM allotypes affect the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. To test this hypothesis, we serologically allotyped 100 persons with well‐documented clearance of HCV infection and 198 matched persistently infected persons.

Marie‐Pierre Bralet, Jean‐Charles Duclos‐Vallee, Denis Castaing, Didier Samuel, Catherine Guettier – 30 August 2004

Jan Stange – 30 August 2004

Yasuhiko Sugawara, Masatoshi Makuuchi – 30 August 2004

Mònica Guevara, Glòria Fernández‐Esparrach, Carlo Alessandria, Aldo Torre, Carlos Terra, Xavier Montañà, Carlos Piera, Maria Luisa Alvarez, Wladimiro Jiménez, Pere Ginès, Vicente Arroyo – 30 August 2004 – Patients with cirrhosis are frequently submitted to radiological procedures that require the administration of contrast media. Contrast media is a well‐known cause of renal failure, particularly in the presence of some predisposing conditions. However, it is not known whether cirrhosis constitutes a risk factor for contrast media–induced renal failure.

30 August 2004

David Brandhagen – 30 August 2004 – We observed the development of phenotypic hereditary haemochromatosis in a non‐hereditary haemochromatosis liver transplant recipient, following transplantation with a liver from a C282Y heterozygous donor. No cause for secondary iron overload was identified. Subsequent sequencing of the HFE gene of both donor and recipient revealed a strong candidate for a novel pathogenic HFE mutation.

Yoji Kishi, Yasuhiko Sugawara, Nobuhisa Akamatsu, Junichi Kaneko, Yuichi Matsui, Norihiro Kokudo, Masatoshi Makuuchi – 30 August 2004 – There are few reported techniques to minimize the congestion in the donor after left liver graft procuring. If a large tributary of the middle hepatic vein (MHV) draining segment VIII (V8) converges into the root of the MHV in a donor of left liver, this branch should be preserved on the donor side. The volume of congested area when the V8 was ligated was predicted preoperatively by computed tomography (CT) and examined intraoperatively by the clamp test.

Sambit Sen, Nathan A. Davies, Rajeshwar P. Mookerjee, Lisa M. Cheshire, Stephen J. Hodges, Roger Williams, Rajiv Jalan – 30 August 2004 – The pathophysiological basis of acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF) is unclear but systemic inflammatory response is thought to be important. In patients with ACLF, the molecular adsorbents recirculating system (MARS) improves individual organ function, but the effect of MARS on the proposed mediators of systemic inflammatory response is unclear.