Thomas F. Kresina, Leonard B. Seeff, Henry Francis – 30 August 2004 – Treatment regimens for both substance abuse and hepatitis C infection are complex and evolving. New pharmacotherapy for opioid addiction allows for office‐based treatment and, thus, an opportunity for expanded treatment in the context of hepatitis C infection. The current article addresses the newly evolving, complex issues in the medical management of hepatitis C and injection drug use. (HEPATOLOGY 2004;40:516–519.)

Hideki Yokoo, Tadashi Kondo, Kazuyasu Fujii, Tesshi Yamada, Satoru Todo, Setsuo Hirohashi – 30 August 2004 – Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) has been implicated in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma and is considered to be a diagnostic and prognostic tumor marker. Because elevated expression of AFP is associated with many characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma tissues, we hypothesized that multiple proteins may function in a coordinated manner with AFP. To identify such proteins, we performed global protein expression analysis, namely a proteomic study.

Adrian Reuben – 30 August 2004

Andres T. Blei – 30 August 2004

Darrell Crawford, Linda Fletcher – 30 August 2004

Asahiro Morishita, Tsutomu Masaki, Hitoshi Yoshiji, Seiji Nakai, Tomohiro Ogi, Yoshiaki Miyauchi, Shuhei Yoshida, Toshiharu Funaki, Naohito Uchida, Yuko Kita, Fumi Funakoshi, Hisashi Usuki, Setsuo Okada, Kunihiko Izuishi, Seishiro Watanabe, Kazutaka Kurokohchi, Shigeki Kuriyama – 30 August 2004 – Cyclins, cyclin‐dependent kinases (Cdks), and Cdk inhibitors (CdkIs) are frequently altered in human cancer. p18INK4C, a member of the INK4 family of CdkIs, is a potential tumor‐suppressor gene product. However, the expression of p18INK4C in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unknown.

Melissa M. Goggin, Christopher J. Nelsen, Scot R. Kimball, Leonard S. Jefferson, Simon J. Morley, Jeffrey H. Albrecht – 30 August 2004 – Following acute injuries that diminish functional liver mass, the remaining hepatocytes substantially increase overall protein synthesis to meet increased metabolic demands and to allow for compensatory liver growth. Previous studies have not clearly defined the mechanisms that promote protein synthesis in the regenerating liver.

Daniel Rost, Gerda Rudolph, Petra Kloeters‐Plachky, Adolf Stiehl – 30 August 2004 – Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has beneficial effects in cholestatic liver diseases. In primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), there is evidence that high doses (±20 mg/kg) of UDCA may be more effective than average doses. Biliary enrichment of UDCA at such high doses may represent the decisive factor for its beneficial effect.

Ching‐Lung Lai, Seng Gee Lim, Nathaniel A. Brown, Xiao‐Jian Zhou, Deborah M. Lloyd, Yin‐Mei Lee, Man‐Fung Yuen, George C. Chao, Maureen W. Myers – 30 August 2004 – Current therapy for chronic hepatitis B is suboptimal as a result of limited durable response rates, cumulative viral resistance, and/or poor tolerability. Telbivudine has potent antiviral activity against hepatitis B virus (HBV) in vitro and in the woodchuck model and has a promising preclinical safety profile.

Elwyn Elias – 30 August 2004 – In accordance with increasing demands for evidence‐based practice for ethical, fiscal, and medico‐legal reasons HEPATOLOGY provides a rich source of material that can justly guide the hepatologist's day‐to‐day clinical activity. The first four articles highlighted below constitute such confidence building data.