W. Ray Kim, Walter Kremers, Patrick S. Kamath, Russell H. Wiesner, Michael Malinchoc, Terry M. Therneau, E. Rolland Dickson – 30 December 2003

Kenichi Ikejima, Hajime Honda, Mutsuko Yoshikawa, Miyoko Hirose, Tsuneo Kitamura, Yoshiyuki Takei, Nobuhiro Sato – 30 December 2003 – Lines of evidence suggested a possible link between leptin and hepatic fibrosis; however, whether leptin modulates the fibrogenesis in the liver remains unclear. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the effect of leptin on inflammatory and profibrogenic responses in the liver caused by hepatotoxic chemicals.

Hsiang Ju Lin, Leonard B. Seeff, Luiz Barbosa, F. Blaine Hollinger – 30 December 2003 – A total of 240 stored serum specimens from 30 transfusion recipients and 120 blood donors from the Transfusion‐Transmitted Viruses Study (TTVS) were evaluated with the objective of establishing transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) by specific blood donors. Phylogenetic analysis of hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) and HCV genotyping were performed on the genomic region encoding amino acids 329 to 410. Amino acid distances between HVR1 sequences were calculated by the Kimura formula.

Emanuela Cova, Ai‐Yu Gong, Raul A. Marinelli, Nicholas F. LaRusso – 30 December 2003 – In recent studies using freshly isolated rat cholangiocytes, we established that water crosses the cholangiocyte membrane by a channel‐mediated mechanism involving aquaporins, a family of water‐channel proteins. Our goal was to address the importance of channel‐mediated water transport in ductal bile formation by employing a physiologic experimental model, the enclosed, polarized rat intrahepatic bile duct unit (IBDU).

Shinichi Ueno, Gen Tanabe, Katsumi Sako, Takuya Hiwaki, Hirohumi Hokotate, Yoshihiko Fukukura, Yoshirou Baba, Yasushi Imamura, Takashi Aikou – 30 December 2003 – To reliably estimate the prognoses of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), both liver function and tumor‐related factors should be accounted for. However, there are few worldwide staging systems that assess prognostic value in the context of selecting individual patients for randomized stratification in therapeutic and clinical trials.

Motoko Sasaki, Judy Van De Water, Thomas P. Kenny, Michael L. Gallo, Patrick S. C. Leung, Yasuni Nakanuma, Aftab A. Ansari, Ross L. Coppel, James Neuberger, M. Eric Gershwin – 30 December 2003 – The immunodominant antimitochondrial antibody (AMA) response in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is directed against the E2 component of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDC‐E2).

Rolando Hernández‐Muñoz, Mauricio Díaz‐Muñoz, Juan A. Suárez‐Cuenca, Cristina Trejo‐Solís, Verónica López, Lourdes Sánchez‐Sevilla, Lucía Yáñez, Victoria Chagoya De Sánchez – 30 December 2003 – Cirrhosis is one of the most common causes of mortality worldwide, because hepatic dysfunction constitutes a potentially lethal condition. Having demonstrated the hepatoprotective effect of adenosine against CCl4‐induced cirrhosis, the present study was aimed at assessing adenosine's effect on an already‐established micronodular cirrhosis.

Hirofumi Kawanaka, Morimasa Tomikawa, Michael K. Jones, Imre L. Szabo, Rama Pai, Dolgor Baatar, Kouji Tsugawa, Keizo Sugimachi, I. James Sarfeh, Andrzej S. Tarnawski – 30 December 2003 – Portal hypertensive (PHT) gastropathy is a frequent, serious complication of liver cirrhosis. PHT gastric mucosa has numerous abnormalities such as reduced mucosal potential differences, reduced surface oxygenation, and increased susceptibility to injury caused by alcohol, aspirin, and other noxious factors.

Young S. Hahn, Carolina Soguero, Michael Cruise – 30 December 2003

Mark A. Ross, Christina M. Sander, Talia B. Kleeb, Simon C. Watkins, Donna Beer Stolz – 30 December 2003 – Regenerating liver was evaluated for the spatiotemporal expression of angiogenic growth factor receptors on endothelial cell (EC) membranes during revascularization resulting from 70% partial hepatectomy (PHx). Fractions enriched in EC membranes were examined by Western blot for angiogenic growth factor receptor expression from 1 to 14 days after PHx.