William S. Hays, Donald E. Wheeler, Bijan Eghtesad, Robert H. Glew, David E. Johnston – 30 December 2003 – The cytosolic β‐glucosidase of mammalian liver has been implicated in the metabolic transformation of plant glycosides, such as vicine and amygdalin, which are associated with the development of toxic syndromes. We investigated which cell types express cytosolic β‐glucosidase in guinea pig liver, and characterized the contribution of this enzyme to the hydrolysis of aromatic glucosides in cultured cells and in tissue slices.

Brian J. McMahon – 30 December 2003

Koichi Urata, Bich Nguyen, Antoine Brault, Joël Lavoie, Bernard Rocheleau, Pierre‐Michel Huet – 30 December 2003 – Primary liver graft dysfunction is currently related to cold ischemia‐reperfusion injury, although a wide survival range has been reported using 24‐hour preservation in cold University of Wisconsin (UW) solution. We hypothesized that the portal vein clamping time (PVCT) played a more important role than cold preservation injury in the postoperative outcome. Rat liver transplantation was performed using different clamping times after 24‐hour cold ischemia in the UW solution.

Peter Nagy, Andras Kiss, Janos Schnur, Snorri S. Thorgeirsson – 30 December 2003 – Recent advances have implicated the importance of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin 6 (IL‐6) in the regulation of liver growth. Therefore, we studied how dexamethasone, a well‐known inhibitor of these cytokines, influences the proliferation of different hepatic cell populations. As we expected, dexamethasone pretreatment suppressed the expression of both TNF and IL‐6 after partial hepatectomy and significantly reduced the proliferative response of the hepatocytes.

Manus M. Moloney, Linda J. Thomson, Michael J. Strettell, Roger Williams, Peter T. Donaldson – 30 December 2003 – Genetic susceptibility to primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is associated with the extended HLA A1‐B8‐DR3 haplotype and also with the DRB3*0101‐DRB1*0301‐DQA1*0103‐DQB1*0603 haplotype. However, very few studies have considered the role of HLA C which lies between HLA A and B, is highly polymorphic, and encodes proteins which play an important role in immunoregulation and in disease susceptibility.

Bimbi Fernando, Richard Marley, Steve Holt, Radhi Anand, David Harry, Peter Sanderson, Roy Smith, George Hamilton, Kevin Moore – 30 December 2003 – Partial portal vein ligation (PPVL) leads to the development of a hyperdynamic circulation. It is associated with elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF‐α) and nitric oxide (NO) production, both of which can result in oxidant injury. In this study, we have investigated whether PPVL is associated with the development of oxidative stress, by measuring urinary F2‐isoprostanes.

Toshimi Kaido, Akira Yoshikawa, Shin‐ichi Seto, Shoji Yamaoka, Maki Sato, Takehisa Ishii, Masayuki Imamura – 30 December 2003 – In a cirrhotic liver, the regenerative ability and specific functions are so impaired that excessive resection easily complicates postoperative liver dysfunction, which frequently leads to life‐threatening multiple‐organ failure.

Norman D. Grace, Roberto J. Groszmann, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Andrew K. Burroughs, Luigi Pagliaro, Robert W. Makuch, Jaime Bosch, Gregory V. Stiegmann, J. Michael Henderson, Roberto de Franchis, Judith L. Wagner, Harold O. Conn, Juan Rodes – 30 December 2003

Yasuhiro Yamada, Eric M. Webber, Irina Kirillova, Jacques J. Peschon, Nelson Fausto – 30 December 2003 – We used KO mice lacking either TNF receptor 1 (TNFR‐1) or receptor 2 (TNFR‐2) to determine whether signaling at the start of liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PH) involves only one or both TNF receptors and to analyze in more detail the abnormalities caused by lack of TNFR‐1 receptor, which is required for the initiation of liver regeneration.

Félix Ruiz, Fernando J. Corrales, Carmen Miqueo, José M. Mato – 30 December 2003 – We investigated the mechanism of nitric oxide (NO) action on hepatic methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) activity using S‐nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) as NO donor. Hepatic MAT plays an essential role in the metabolism of methionine, converting this amino acid into S‐adenosylmethionine. Hepatic MAT exists in two oligomeric states: as a tetramer (MAT I) and as a dimer (MAT III) of the same subunit. This subunit contains 10 cysteine residues.