A E Sirica, T W Gainey – 30 December 2003 – The rat treated with bile duct ligation (BDL) and furan is a unique animal model of massive bile ductular hyperplasia in which normal liver parenchyma is largely replaced with well‐differentiated proliferated bile ductules. We have now developed a simple cell isolation procedure to obtain and culture viable bile ductular epithelial cells in high numbers and with a high degree of purity from the livers of BDL/furan‐treated rats.

F Piscaglia, L Gramantieri, S Gaiani, G Cavalli, L Bolondi – 30 December 2003

J Pawlotsky – 30 December 2003

P Honkoop, R A De Man, H R Scholte, P E Zondervan, J W Van Den Berg, L H Rademakers, S W Schalm – 30 December 2003 – Nucleoside analogues can induce mitochondrial dysfunction leading to severe clinical syndromes. Lamivudine, a new nucleoside analogue, is an active inhibitor of hepatitis B viral replication without apparent clinical toxicity. To assess subclinical mitochondrial toxicity, we studied the morphology and function of the mitochondrial system in 15 patients treated with lamivudine.

J Grove, A K Daly, M F Bassendine, C P Day – 30 December 2003 – Twin concordance studies suggest that genetic factors play a role in determining why only a minority of heavy drinkers develop hepatitis and cirrhosis. Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) has emerged as the “final common pathway” in the pathogenesis of alcohol‐related hepatic necro‐inflammation. We have examined the frequency of the two recently described polymorphisms of the TNF‐α promoter in 150 patients with biopsy‐proven alcoholic liver disease and 145 healthy volunteers.

C C Paulusma, M Kool, P J Bosma, G L Scheffer, F ter Borg, R J Scheper, G N Tytgat, P Borst, F Baas, R O Elferink – 30 December 2003 – The human Dubin‐Johnson syndrome (DJS) is a rare autosomal recessive liver disorder characterized by chronic conjugated hyperbilirubinemia. Patients have impaired hepatobiliary transport of non‐bile salt organic anions. A highly similar phenotype has been described for a mutant Wistar rat strain, the transport‐deficient (TR‐) rat, which is defective in the canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter (cmoat).

M Yamashiki, A Nishimura, H Suzuki, S Sakaguchi, Y Kosaka – 30 December 2003 – “Sho‐saiko‐to” (TJ‐9) consists of 7 herbal components. In Japan, it is widely prescribed to patients with chronic viral liver disease. TJ‐9 is known to suppress liver cancer development and possess macrobiotic effects, but its mode of action is not fully understood.

J G Kingham – 30 December 2003

A Zibert, H Meisel, W Kraas, A Schulz, G Jung, M Roggendorf – 30 December 2003 – Antibodies directed to hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) have recently been shown to neutralize the corresponding HCV isolate in vitro. We analyzed the appearance of antibodies directed to HVR1 during the course of infection in a large group of patients who have been infected by the same isolate of a HCV contaminated anti‐D immunoglobulin (HCV‐AD78).

H Lafont, N Domingo, A Groen, E W Kaler, S P Lee, R Koehler, J D Ostrow, A Veis – 30 December 2003 – Two very similar small anionic, amphipathic proteins, a phospholipid‐binding apoprotein (anionic polypeptide fraction [APF]) and a calcium‐binding polypeptide (CBP), are found abundantly in bile and all types of gallstones. The often disparate properties among various preparations of APF/CBP could reflect different sources and separation procedures, leading to partly degraded and/or denatured protein and varied association of bile salts, lipids, bile pigments, and detergents.