Yurdana Castelruiz, Esther Larrea, Patricia Boya, María‐Pilar Civeira, Jesús Prieto – 30 December 2003 – Viral infections stimulate the transcription of interferon type I, which includes IFN‐alfa (IFN‐α) (13 subtypes) and IFN‐β (a single substance). Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is remarkable by its ability to evade host antiviral defenses; however, there is little information as to whether endogenous IFN is activated or not in this disease.

Sylvain Brunet, Louise Thibault, Edgard Delvin, Wagner Yotov, Moïse Bendayan, Emile Levy – 30 December 2003 – Although hemochromatosis is characterized by dramatic morphological and functional alterations in the liver, little is known about the effects of an excess of iron on lipid metabolism. Therefore, we determined the effect of chronic iron overload on plasma lipid profile and lipoprotein composition, as well as on hepatic cholesterol metabolism and biliary sterol output.

Jacquelyn Maher, Rajiv Jalan, Steven W. M. Olde Damink, Peter C. Hayes, Joanna M. Wardlaw – 30 December 2003

R. Brian Doctor, Rolf H. Dahl, Kelli D. Salter, J. Gregory Fitz – 30 December 2003 – Cholangiocytes contribute significantly to bile formation through the vectorial secretion of water and electrolytes and are a focal site of injury in a number of diseases including liver ischemia and post‐transplantation liver failure. Using ischemia in intact liver and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) depletion in cultured cells to model cholangiocyte injury, these studies examined the effects of metabolic inhibition on cholangiocyte viability and structure.

James Neuberger, Bridget Gunson, Piyawat Komolmit, Mervyn H. Davies, Erik Christensen – 30 December 2003 – Liver transplantation remains the only treatment for patients with end‐stage primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC); however, selection criteria for the procedure and its timing remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to identify pretransplant variables associated with survival after transplantation and to devise a Cox regression model for prediction of post‐transplant survival.

Margaret James Koziel – 30 December 2003

Stephen J. Polyak, Denise M. Paschal, Susan McArdle, Michael J. Jr., Darius Moradpour, David R. Gretch – 30 December 2003 – The hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural 5A (NS5A) protein has been implicated in the inherent resistance of HCV to interferon (IFN) antiviral therapy in clinical studies. Biochemical studies have demonstrated that NS5A interacts in vitro with and inhibits the IFN‐induced, RNA‐dependent protein kinase, PKR, and that NS5A interacts with at least one other cellular kinase.

Adam F. Steinlauf, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Maram F. Zakko, Kevin Dickey, Tarun Gupta, Roberto J. Groszmann – 30 December 2003 – The hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) is becoming increasingly used clinically. It is useful in the differential diagnosis of portal hypertension and provides a prognostic index in cirrhotic patients. Performance of serial measurements has been shown to be useful in guiding pharmacological therapy of portal hypertension and variceal hemorrhage. The technique is safe to perform; however, many patients are anxious and reluctant to undergo serial measurements.

Andrea Galli, Donna Price, David Crabb – 30 December 2003 – The mechanisms by which ethanol causes fatty liver are complex. Reducing equivalents generated during ethanol oxidation inhibit tricarboxylic acid cycle activity and fatty acid oxidation. In addition, ethanol inhibits lipoprotein export and increases fatty acid uptake and lipid peroxidation. To test the role that alcohol metabolism by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) has on cellular lipid metabolism, a cell line expressing rat ADH was generated by transducing HeLa cells with an ADH‐expressing retrovirus.

Michael Friedt, Patrick Gerner, Ekkehart Lausch, Hubert Trübel, Bernhard Zabel, Stefan Wirth – 30 December 2003 – The involvement of precore stop codon 1896‐A and base exchanges in the AT‐rich region at positions 1762 and 1764 of the hepatitis B core promotor has been controversely discussed in adults with fulminant hepatitis B. Because no data are currently available on children, we analyzed the basic core promotor (BCP) and precore region in children with chronic and fulminant hepatitis B. The BCP and precore region were sequenced directly and after cloning from mothers and infants.