Epidermal Growth Factor Impairs the Cytochrome C/Caspase‐3 Apoptotic Pathway Induced by Transforming Growth Factor β in Rat Fetal Hepatocytes Via a Phosphoinositide 3‐Kinase–Dependent Pathway

Isabel Fabregat, Blanca Herrera, Margarita Fernández, Alberto M. Álvarez, Aránzazu Sánchez, César Roncero, Juan‐José Ventura, Ángela M. Valverde, Manuel Benito – 30 December 2003 – Transforming growth factor β (TGF‐β)–mediated apoptosis is one of the major death processes in the liver. We have previously shown that epidermal growth factor (EGF) is an important survival signal for TGF‐β–induced apoptosis in fetal hepatocytes (Fabregat et al., FEBS Lett 1996;384:14‐18). In this work we have studied the intracellular signaling implicated in the protective effect of EGF.

A randomized, placebo‐controlled study to evaluate the efficacy of 12‐month famciclovir treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B e antigen–positive hepatitis B

Robert A. de Man, Patrick Marcellin, Flavio Habal, Paul Desmond, Teresa Wright, Toby Rose, Regina Jurewicz, Clarence Young, the Famciclovir Hepatitis B Study Group – 30 December 2003 – We conducted a randomized, placebo‐controlled clinical study evaluating famciclovir (500 mg 3 times daily and 1.5 g once daily) for 1 year (6 months post‐treatment follow‐up) in patients with chronic hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐positive hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The study was conducted in 80 centers in North America, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand.

Proliferative activity of intrahepatic colorectal metastases after preoperative hemihepatic portal vein embolization

Norihiro Kokudo, Keiichiro Tada, Makoto Seki, Hirotoshi Ohta, Kaoru Azekura, Masashi Ueno, Keiichiro Ohta, Toshiharu Yamaguchi, Toshiki Matsubara, Takashi Takahashi, Toshifusa Nakajima, Tetsuichiro Muto, Takaaki Ikari, Akio Yanagisawa, Yo Kato – 30 December 2003 – Although hemihepatic portal vein embolization (PVE) has been used preoperatively to extend indications for hepatectomy in patients with colorectal metastases, the effects of this procedure on tumor growth and outcome remain controversial.

Treatment of hepatitis C infection in injection drug users

Markus Backmund, Kirsten Meyer, Michael Von Zielonka, Dieter Eichenlaub – 30 December 2003 – Chronic hepatitis C is the most common infectious disease among injection drug users (IDUs). Because of the allegedly poor compliance of IDUs with treatment requirements and conditions, hepatologists recommend treatment only if former IDUs have spent 6 to 12 months drug free. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate whether opiate‐dependent IDUs with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can be treated successfully with interferon.

Adenovirus‐mediated CD40 ligand gene therapy in a rat model of orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma

Volker Schmitz, Miguel Barajas, Lin Wang, Dacheng Peng, Marina Duarte, Jesús Prieto, Cheng Qian – 30 December 2003 – Unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lacks effective therapy and entails very poor prognosis. In this study, we have explored a gene‐therapeutic approach to stimulate antitumor immunity by adenoviral‐mediated transfer of CD40 ligand to treat HCC in rats. In vitro infection of a rat HCC cell line (McA‐RH7777) with adenoviral vector expressing CD40 ligand (AdCMVmCD40L) induced CD40L expression in a dose‐dependent manner.

A cellular gene up‐regulated by hepatitis B virus–encoded X antigen promotes hepatocellular growth and survival

Zhaorui Lian, Jie Liu, Jingbo Pan, N. Lale Satiroglu Tufan, Minghua Zhu, Patrick Arbuthnot, Michael Kew, Marcy M. Clayton, Mark A. Feitelson – 30 December 2003 – Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) select complementary DNA (cDNA) subtraction of hepatitis B x antigen (HBxAg)‐positive compared with ‐negative HepG2 cells resulted in the up‐regulated expression of a cellular gene that encodes a transcript of 745 bases and a polypeptide 99 amino acids long.

Long‐term follow‐up of interferon alfa treatment in chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B infection: The effect on hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion and the development of cirrhosis‐related complications

Man‐Fung Yuen, Chee‐Kin Hui, Chi‐Chung Cheng, Chi‐Hang Wu, Yim‐Ping Lai, Ching‐Lung Lai – 30 December 2003 – The long‐term effect of interferon alfa (IFN‐α) in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B infection is unknown. A total of 411 chronic hepatitis B patients (208 treated with IFN‐α and 203 as control) were followed up for hepatitis B serology and the development of hepatoma and other cirrhosis‐related complications.

An early lesion in hepatic carcinogenesis: Loss of heterozygosity in human cirrhotic livers and dysplastic nodules at the 1p36‐p34 region

Min Sun, James R. Eshleman, Linda D. Ferrell, Gretta Jacobs, Eulalia C. Sudilovsky, Ralph Tuthill, Mahmoud R. Hussein, Oscar Sudilovsky – 30 December 2003 – Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of chromosome 1 has been suggested, by karyotyping, to be an initial episode in human hepatocarcinogenesis. However, this alteration has not yet been investigated in cirrhotic nodules (CNs) or dysplastic nodules (DNs).

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