Andrea Eberle, Roland Reinehr, Stephan Becker, Dieter Häussinger – 19 January 2005 – Hyperosmolarity‐ and CD95 ligand (CD95L)‐induced interactions between CD95 (Fas/APO‐1) and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) involve EGFR‐catalyzed CD95 tyrosine phosphorylation. Such interactions were studied by means of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and CD95 receptor mutagenesis in Huh7 hepatoma cells.

Marie‐Christine Rousselet, Sophie Michalak, Florence Dupré, Anne Croué, Pierre Bedossa, Jean‐Paul Saint‐André, Paul Calès – 19 January 2005 – Inter‐observer agreement on activity and fibrosis scores used in chronic viral hepatitis has only been studied under selected conditions. The aim of this study was to identify the sources of variability due to specimen characteristics and observers. This study included 254 liver specimens and 15 pathologists and used the Metavir score.

Alec Avgerinos, Jiannis Vlachogiannakos, Spilios Manolakopoulos, Sotirios A. Raptis – 19 January 2005

Glen Lutchman, Marc Ghany – 19 January 2005

Jason M. Hui, Jacob George – 19 January 2005

Dimitri Lavillette, Alexander W. Tarr, Cécile Voisset, Peggy Donot, Birke Bartosch, Christine Bain, Arvind H. Patel, Jean Dubuisson, Jonathan K. Ball, François‐Loïc Cosset – 19 January 2005 – Because of the lack of a robust cell culture system, relatively little is known about the molecular details of the cell entry mechanism for hepatitis C virus (HCV). Recently, we described infectious HCV pseudo‐particles (HCVpp) that were generated by incorporating unmodified HCV E1E2 glycoproteins into the membrane of retroviral core particles.

Slaven Erceg, Pilar Monfort, Mariluz Hernández‐Viadel, Regina Rodrigo, Carmina Montoliu, Vicente Felipo – 19 January 2005 – Patients with liver disease with overt or minimal hepatic encephalopathy show impaired intellectual capacity. The underlying molecular mechanism remains unknown. Rats with portacaval anastomosis or with hyperammonemia without liver failure also show impaired learning ability and impaired function of the glutamate‐nitric oxide‐cyclic guanine monophosphate (glutamate‐NO‐cGMP) pathway in brain.

Karin Lindahl, Lars Stahle, Annette Bruchfeld, Robert Schvarcz – 19 January 2005 – Improved treatment regimens for patients with chronic hepatitis C, genotype 1 and high viral load are needed. Increasing the dose of ribavirin has increased the response rate, but experience with doses of more than 1,200 mg/day is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and tolerance to treatment with a high and individualized dose of ribavirin in combination with peginterferon.

Mark Davenport – 19 January 2005

Panayotis Lykavieris, Christophe Chardot, Maroun Sokhn, Frédéric Gauthier, Jacques Valayer, Olivier Bernard – 19 January 2005 – To define the long‐term prognosis of children undergoing the Kasai operation for biliary atresia, a retrospective study was undertaken comprising 271 patients operated between 1968 and 1983. Twenty years after surgery, 63 (23%) were alive with their native liver.