G Boigk, L Stroedter, H Herbst, J Waldschmidt, E O Riecken, D Schuppan – 30 December 2003 – Silymarin (SIL), a standardized plant extract containing about 60% polyphenole silibinin, is used as a hepatoprotective agent. Its antifibrotic potential in chronic liver diseases has not been explored. Therefore, we applied SIL to adult Wistar rats that were subjected to complete bile duct occlusion (BDO) by injection of sodium amidotrizoate (Ethibloc). This treatment induces progressive portal fibrosis without significant inflammation.

I Ogata, A S Auster, A Matsui, P Greenwel, A Geerts, T D'Amico, K Fujiwara, E Kessler, M Rojkind – 30 December 2003 – Using a polyclonal antibody raised against a liver stellate cell (LSC) line derived from a rat CCl4‐cirrhotic liver, we isolated 14 clones from a complementary DNA library prepared with total RNA extracted from the same cell line, with nucleotide sequences homologous to that of the type I procollagen C‐proteinase enhancer protein (PCPE) gene. The longest PCPE insert of 1,530 base pairs contained an open reading frame coding for 468 amino acids.

F Donato, A Tagger, R Chiesa, M L Ribero, V Tomasoni, M Fasola, U Gelatti, G Portera, P Boffetta, G Nardi – 30 December 2003 – We performed a case‐control study to assess the association of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and alcohol drinking.

T Bizollon, U Palazzo, C Ducerf, M Chevallier, M Elliott, J Baulieux, M Pouyet, C Trepo – 30 December 2003 – Recurrent hepatitis C virus (HCV) in liver transplant patients is a major cause of graft loss, liver failure, and need for retransplantation. The results available to date with the use of interferon alfa (IFN‐α) in the treatment of recurrent HCV in liver transplant patients have been disappointing.

A Nagita, M Ando – 30 December 2003 – No published reports compare hepatic α‐tocopherol (adjusted for hepatic lipid content) with indicators of blood α‐tocopherol in adult patients with various liver diseases. α‐Tocopherol was simultaneously measured in liver biopsy tissues and blood from 66 subjects (9 comparison patients hospitalized for biliary tract surgery, 13 with chronic persistent hepatitis, 9 with chronic aggressive hepatitis, 10 with acute hepatitis, 10 with cirrhosis, 7 with both cirrhosis and hepatic cell carcinoma, and 8 with fatty liver).

U Beuers – 30 December 2003

Q Chen, D Seol, B Carr, R Zarnegar – 30 December 2003 – Met and ron proto‐oncogenes encode the cell surface receptors for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and hepatocyte growth factor‐like (HLP) protein, respectively, and induce mitogenesis, motogenesis, morphogenesis, and metastatic activity in various cell types. Overexpression of met in human carcinoma has been reported by several groups including ours; however, the mechanisms that control met gene expression are thus far unclear.

W R Kim, J J Poterucha, R A Jorgensen, K P Batts, H A Homburger, E R Dickson, R A Krom, R H Wiesner, K D Lindor – 30 December 2003 – Approximately 5% to 10% of patients with features otherwise consistent with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) lack antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA). Most of these patients have other autoantibodies, a syndrome recently named “autoimmune cholangitis.” We report our experience in patients with AMA‐negative PBC treated with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and/or liver transplantation (OLT). The study of response to UDCA was performed as follows.

H O Conn – 30 December 2003

J Salo, M Guevara, G Fernandez‐Esparrach, R Bataller, A Gines, W Jimenez, P Gines, F Rivera, V Arroyo, J Rodes – 30 December 2003 – Moderate physical exercise does not affect glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal excretory function in normal subjects. This study is aimed at assessing the effects of moderate physical exercise on renal function in 21 nonazotemic cirrhotic patients with ascites.