Nicholas A. Shackel, Peter H. McGuinness, Catherine A. Abbott, Mark D. Gorrell, Geoffrey W. McCaughan – 30 December 2003 – Pathogenic molecular pathways in cirrhotic liver diseases such as hepatitis C virus (HCV), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) are poorly characterized. Differentially expressed genes are often important in disease pathogenesis. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) is a genome‐wide approach that enriches for differentially expressed mRNA transcripts.

Katrien Vekemans, Filip Braet, Eddie Wisse – 30 December 2003

María José Pérez, Arthur I. Cederbaum – 30 December 2003 – CYP2E1 induction by ethanol is one mechanism by which ethanol creates oxidative stress in the liver. The superoxide dismutases (SODs) are an important antioxidant enzyme defense system against reactive oxygen species (ROS). To investigate the protective role of SOD against CYP2E1‐dependent toxicity, a transfected HepG2 cell line overexpressing CYP2E1 (E47 cells) was infected with adenoviral vectors containing Cu/Zn‐SOD complementary DNA (cDNA) (Ad.SOD1) and Mn‐SOD cDNA (Ad.SOD2).

George J. Brewer, Frederick Askari – 30 December 2003

Andrew J. Bathgate, Patricia Lee, Peter C. Hayes, Kenneth J. Simpson – 30 December 2003 – Immunosuppressive therapy has many adverse effects in both the short and longer term. Tailoring immunosuppression might be possible if pretransplantation parameters predicted rejection. We investigated production of the proinflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), and the anti‐inflammatory cytokine, interleukin‐10 (IL‐10), pretransplantation to determine whether there is a relation with acute rejection.

Josep M. Llovet, Margarita Sala, Jordi Bruix – 30 December 2003 – Key Points

Andrew K. Burroughs – 30 December 2003 – Key Points

George J. Chang, Harish D. Mahanty, David Quan, Chris E. Freise, Nancy L. Ascher, John P. Roberts, Peter G. Stock, Ryutaro Hirose – 30 December 2003 – Sirolimus (SRL) provides effective immunosuppression for kidney transplantation and may be useful in patients with delayed allograft function after kidney transplantation. We review our experience with SRL in liver transplant recipients for whom calcineurin inhibitors are undesirable. Fourteen patients with renal insufficiency or acute mental status impairment were administered SRL after liver transplantation (5‐ to 10‐mg load, 1 to 4 mg/d).

W. Ray Kim – 30 December 2003

Gregory T. Everson – 30 December 2003 – Key Points