Kazuyoshi Katayanagi, Judy Van de Water, Thomas Kenny, Yasuni Nakanuma, Aftab A. Ansari, Ross Coppel, M. Eric Gershwin – 30 December 2003 – Biliary epithelial cells (BECs) are distributed along the length of both the extrahepatic and intrahepatic biliary tree, but have distinctly different phenotypes and functions according to their anatomical location. It has been reasoned that the distinct appearance of pathogenic lesions in different biliary diseases may be associated with the expression of distinct proteins.

Ivo W. Graziadei, Russell H. Wiesner, Kenneth P. Batts, Paul J. Marotta, Nicholas F. LaRusso, Michael K. Porayko, J. Eileen Hay, Gregory J. Gores, Michael R. Charlton, Jurgen Ludwig, John J. Poterucha, Jeffery L. Steers, Ruud A. Krom – 30 December 2003 – Recurrence of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) following liver transplantation has been suggested; however, it has not been fully defined because of numerous complicating factors and the lack of diagnostic criteria.

Stefan Zeuzem, Uwe Hopf, Vicente Carreno, Moisés Diago, Mitchell Shiffman, Stefan Grüne, Francis J. Dudley, Ashok Rakhit, Karen Rittweger, Sing Hiem Yap, Raymond S. Koff, Howard C. Thomas – 30 December 2003 – Interleukin‐12 (IL‐12) plays a central role in mounting an effective cellular immune response directed towards elimination of intracellular pathogens.

Mark Dixon, Loranne Agius, Stephen J. Yeaman, Christopher P. Day – 30 December 2003 – Stimulation of hepatocyte proliferation by epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin is inhibited by transforming growth factor β (TGF‐β) and by glucagon. It is also suppressed by inhibitors of various protein kinases, including rapamycin, which blocks activation of p70 S6 kinase (p70S6k), PD98059, which inhibits the activation of extracellular‐regulated kinase (ERK), and SB 203580, an inhibitor of the p38 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK).

Sander J. Robins, Joan M. Fasulo – 30 December 2003 – Cholesterol is principally excreted from the body in bile as unesterified cholesterol (UC). Using the unesterified plant sterol, sitostanol (SIT), as a nonexchangeable analog for UC, we have found that high‐density lipoproteins (HDL), but not low‐density lipoproteins, provide a vehicle for the direct delivery of cholesterol to bile.

H. Isobel Davidson, Rosemary Richardson, Donald Sutherland, O. James Garden – 30 December 2003 – Anorexia in liver disease is common; however, its association with aberrant metabolism and the type of cirrhosis has not been considered. Dietary intake, nutritional status, fasting substrate oxidation, and macronutrient preference were examined in controls (n = 18) and 65 patients with hepatocellular (n = 31) or biliary cirrhosis (n = 34).

Lieven Stuyver, Sija De Gendt, Jean Fran Cadranel, Caroline Van Geyt, Georges Van Reybroeck, Richard Dorent, Iranj Gandjbachkh, Michel Rosenheim, Frederic Charlotte, Pierre Opolon, Jean Marie Huraux, Françoise Lunel – 30 December 2003 – Fulminant and severe viral hepatitis are frequently associated with mutant hepatitis B virus (HBV) strains. In this study, the genetic background of a viral strain causing severe subfulminant outcome in heart‐transplanted patients was studied and compared with viral hepatitis B strains that were not linked to severe liver disease in the same setting.

Suzanne E. Bassett, Adrian M. Di Bisceglie, Bruce R. Bacon, R. Mark Sharp, Sugantha Govindarajan, Gene B. Hubbard, Kathleen M. Brasky, Robert E. Lanford – 30 December 2003 – Elevated iron levels have been associated with raised serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels in hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐infected humans. However, it is not clear if HCV infection causes increased iron accumulation by the liver or if the severity of HCV infection is actually worsened by higher iron levels in the host.

Hirohisa Yano, Akihiro Iemura, Makoto Haramaki, Sachiko Ogasawara, Akiko Takayama, Jun Akiba, Masamichi Kojiro – 30 December 2003 – Type I interferon (IFN) receptor consists of two chains (Hu‐IFN‐αR1 and Hu‐IFN‐αR2), and Hu‐IFN‐αR2 takes a soluble (Hu‐IFN‐αR2a), short (Hu‐IFN‐αR2b), or long (Hu‐IFN‐αR2c) form. We examined the expression of type I IFN receptor, the growth‐suppression effect of IFN‐α, and their relationship in 13 liver cancer cell lines.

Eva‐Maria Wolber, Rainer Ganschow, Martin Burdelski, Wolfgang Jelkmann – 30 December 2003 – The liver is the main production site of the hormone thrombopoietin (TPO), the major regulator of megakaryopoiesis. To investigate the role of an impaired TPO gene expression in the pathogenesis of thrombocytopenia in pediatric patients suffering from liver failure, we measured hepatic TPO mRNA in children with acute or chronic end‐stage liver disease undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation.