R. Mazzanti, L. Messerini, L. Monsacchi, G. Buzzelli, A. L. Zignego, M. Foschi, M. Monti, G. Laffi, L. Morbidelli, O. Fantappié, F. Bartoloni Saint Omer, M. Ziche – 30 December 2003 – Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections lead to cirrhosis and increase the risk for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Angiogenesis is an essential step in oncogenesis and contributes to tumor progression in adult organs; however, to what extent angiogenesis occurs in the liver during chronic viral hepatitis has not been studied.

C. Lai, C. Ching, A. K. Tung, E. Li, J. Young, A. Hill, B. C. Wong, J. Dent, P. Wu – 30 December 2003 – Lamivudine is a novel 2′,3′‐dideoxy cytosine analogue that has potent inhibitory effects on hepatitis B virus replication in vitro and in vivo. We performed a single‐blind, placebo‐controlled study to assess its effectiveness and safety in Chinese hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers. Forty‐two Chinese HBsAg carriers were randomized to receive placebo (6 patients) or lamivudine orally in dosages of 25 mg, 100 mg, or 300 mg daily (12 patients for each dosage).

P Lapuerta, S Rajan, M Bonacini – 30 December 2003 – We developed and evaluated neural networks as predictors of outcomes in alcoholic patients with severe liver disease using commonly available clinical and laboratory values. Hospital charts of 144 patients were reviewed. Nine variables (five laboratory, four clinical) were recorded along with in‐hospital death or survival. Data were organized into separate development and validation sets.

H Ishizu, J Uchino, N Sato, S Aoki, K Suzuki, H Kuribayashi – 30 December 2003 – Patients with alveolar echinococcosis of the liver (AEL) can be cured by complete excision of the lesions; however, it is not always completely resectable in advanced cases. Recently, benzimidazole‐type drugs have been reported to be effective in nonresectable AEL. One hundred fifty‐two patients with AEL have been surgically treated in our institution since 1937.

A M Hui, Y Kanai, M Sakamoto, H Tsuda, S Hirohashi – 30 December 2003 – p21WAF1/CIP1 is a universal cyclin‐dependent kinase (cdk) inhibitor, the expression of which is regulated by p53‐dependent and p53‐independent pathways. We examined p21WAF1/CIP1 expression in and p53 status of 21 primary hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) by reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and by PCR single‐strand conformation polymorphism (PCR‐SSCP) analysis. p21WAF1/CIP1 messenger RNA expression was reduced markedly in 8 of 21 HCCs (38.1%) and 5 of these 8 HCCs bore p53 mutations.

M Anthuber, S Farkas, M Rihl, M D Menger, F W Schildberg, K W Jauch, K Messmer – 30 December 2003 – Angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have proven to be effective in the reduction of ischemia/reperfusion damage after myocardial ischemia. Whether this favorable effect can be related to other models of ischemia and reperfusion has not yet been investigated. Therefore, we studied in a model of syngeneic liver transplantation in the rat the effect of recipient enalapril treatment on postischemic liver injury. Untreated animals served as the control group.

D Prati, C Capelli, C Silvani, C De Mattei, P Bosoni, M Pappalettera, F Mozzi, M Colombo, A Zanella, G Sirchia – 30 December 2003 – To assess the incidence and source of community‐acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among subjects at low risk for blood‐borne diseases, we prospectively studied a cohort of 16,515 repeat blood donors over a mean follow‐up time of 36 months. Second‐ and third‐ generation methods were used for hepatitis C virus antibody (anti‐HCV) testing. HCV RNA was determined in the serum of anti‐HCV‐positive donors by reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction.

K Hiroishi, H Kita, M Kojima, H Okamoto, T Moriyama, T Kaneko, T Ishikawa, S Ohnishi, T Aikawa, N Tanaka, Y Yazaki, K Mitamura, M Imawari – 30 December 2003 – A cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response to the hepatitis C virus (HCV) nucleoprotein residues 88‐96 that are the minimal and optimal epitope for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B44‐restricted CTLs was assessed in 27 HLA B44‐positive patients with chronic HCV infection. Serum HCV RNA concentration and the amino acid sequence of the residues 81‐100 were also determined.

S Mihm, A Fayyazi, H Hartmann, G Ramadori – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes acute and often chronic hepatitis. On the basis of variations in nucleotide sequence, at least six genotypes and several subtypes have been identified. Histopathologically, chronic HCV infection is characterized by relatively mild hepatic inflammatory activity and a low degree of fibrosis, but hepatic lesions might be accompanied by bile duct damage, intraportal lymphoid aggregates, steatosis, or a combination of these manifestations. The histopathological lesions thus appear quite heterogeneous.

D Herion, J H Hoofnagle – 30 December 2003