Philippe Mathurin, Qing‐Gao Deng, Ali Keshavarzian, Sandeep Choudhary, Earle W. Holmes, Hidekazu Tsukamoto – 30 December 2003 – Increased gut permeability (leaky gut) and endotoxin‐mediated Kupffer cell activation are proposed as the mechanisms of alcoholic liver injury. Although ethanol feeding is shown to sensitize the liver for injury induced by parental administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), how enteral LPS loading affects alcoholic liver injury is yet to be tested.

Eiji Tanaka, Chiharu Ohue, Katsumi Aoyagi, Kenjiro Yamaguchi, Shintaro Yagi, Kendo Kiyosawa, Harvey J. Alter – 30 December 2003 – The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical performance of a new enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) core antigen in comparison with the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). A total of 310 patients with acute or chronic hepatitis C, and 132 HCV‐negative controls were studied.

Stuart C. Gordon, Jane W. Fang, Ann L. Silverman, John G. McHutchison, Janice K. Albrecht – 30 December 2003 – We sought to determine whether pretreatment serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) correlate with demographic features and other disease characteristics and whether these values influence response to therapy. A total of 1,744 patients with HCV received either interferon alfa‐2b and placebo or combination interferon alfa‐2b and ribavirin for 24 or 48 weeks.

Antony J. Ellis, Julia A. Wendon, Roger Williams – 30 December 2003 – Subclinical seizure activity in the patient with encephalopathy and on ventilation with acute liver failure (ALF) is a poorly recognized entity. Its importance lies in the likely exacerbation of cerebral hypoxia and the contribution of such seizure activity to the development of cerebral edema.

Keith R. Loeb, Keith R. Jerome, James Goddard, Meei‐li Huang, Anne Cent, Lawrence Corey – 30 December 2003 – Reproducible quantitative assays to detect viral nucleic acids have proven useful in defining disease progression and following response to therapy in a wide variety of viral infections. We describe the development of a quantitative assay to detect hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA using real‐time fluorescent‐probe polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (TaqMan).

Andy S. Yu, Emmet B. Keeffe – 30 December 2003

Etsuro Orito, Masashi Mizokami, Hiroshi Sakugawa, Kojiro Michitaka, Kazuyoshi Ishikawa, Takafumi Ichida, Takeshi Okanoue, Hiroshi Yotsuyanagi, Shiro Iino – 30 December 2003 – Clinical and molecular virological differences were evaluated in 50 Japanese patients chronically infected with HBV of genotype B and C who were matched for age and sex as well as the severity of liver disease in a case‐control study. Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) was significantly less frequent (16% vs. 42%, P < .01), whereas antibody to HBeAg (anti‐HBe) was significantly more common (84% vs.

Albert Geerts, Camilla Eliasson, Toshiro Niki, Annemie Wielant, Freja Vaeyens, Milos Pekny – 30 December 2003 – Increased desmin synthesis and formation of desmin‐containing intermediate filaments (IFs) is one of the hallmarks of transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells into myofibroblast‐like cells. These desmin‐enriched myofibroblast‐like cells are the major sources of fibrotic extracellular matrix in chronically diseased liver. Myofibroblast‐like cells are also involved in the contraction of sinusoids, which leads to increased intrahepatic pressure and portal hypertension.

Rita Carini, Maria Grazia De Cesaris, Roberta Splendore, Daria Vay, Cinzia Domenicotti, Maria Paola Nitti, Dimitri Paola, Maria Adelaide Pronzato, Emanuele Albano – 30 December 2003 – Ischemic preconditioning improves liver resistance to hypoxia and reduces reperfusion injury following transplantation. However, the intracellular signals that mediate the development of liver hypoxic preconditioning are largely unknown. We have investigated the signal pathway leading to preconditioning in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes.

Yuji Sobao, Hiroko Tomiyama, Saburo Nakamura, Hisahiko Sekihara, Katsuaki Tanaka, Masafumi Takiguchi – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐specific CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients infected with HCV were quantitatively analyzed by flow cytometry using an HLA‐B*3501‐HCV epitope tetrameric complex. In chronic hepatitis C, tetramer+CD8+ T cells were detected at frequencies ranging from 0.05% to 0.12% of total CD8+ T cells.