Stuart C. Gordon, Jane W. Fang, Ann L. Silverman, John G. McHutchison, Janice K. Albrecht – 30 December 2003 – We sought to determine whether pretreatment serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) correlate with demographic features and other disease characteristics and whether these values influence response to therapy. A total of 1,744 patients with HCV received either interferon alfa‐2b and placebo or combination interferon alfa‐2b and ribavirin for 24 or 48 weeks.

Antony J. Ellis, Julia A. Wendon, Roger Williams – 30 December 2003 – Subclinical seizure activity in the patient with encephalopathy and on ventilation with acute liver failure (ALF) is a poorly recognized entity. Its importance lies in the likely exacerbation of cerebral hypoxia and the contribution of such seizure activity to the development of cerebral edema.

Keith R. Loeb, Keith R. Jerome, James Goddard, Meei‐li Huang, Anne Cent, Lawrence Corey – 30 December 2003 – Reproducible quantitative assays to detect viral nucleic acids have proven useful in defining disease progression and following response to therapy in a wide variety of viral infections. We describe the development of a quantitative assay to detect hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA using real‐time fluorescent‐probe polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (TaqMan).

Andy S. Yu, Emmet B. Keeffe – 30 December 2003

Etsuro Orito, Masashi Mizokami, Hiroshi Sakugawa, Kojiro Michitaka, Kazuyoshi Ishikawa, Takafumi Ichida, Takeshi Okanoue, Hiroshi Yotsuyanagi, Shiro Iino – 30 December 2003 – Clinical and molecular virological differences were evaluated in 50 Japanese patients chronically infected with HBV of genotype B and C who were matched for age and sex as well as the severity of liver disease in a case‐control study. Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) was significantly less frequent (16% vs. 42%, P < .01), whereas antibody to HBeAg (anti‐HBe) was significantly more common (84% vs.

Albert Geerts, Camilla Eliasson, Toshiro Niki, Annemie Wielant, Freja Vaeyens, Milos Pekny – 30 December 2003 – Increased desmin synthesis and formation of desmin‐containing intermediate filaments (IFs) is one of the hallmarks of transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells into myofibroblast‐like cells. These desmin‐enriched myofibroblast‐like cells are the major sources of fibrotic extracellular matrix in chronically diseased liver. Myofibroblast‐like cells are also involved in the contraction of sinusoids, which leads to increased intrahepatic pressure and portal hypertension.

Rita Carini, Maria Grazia De Cesaris, Roberta Splendore, Daria Vay, Cinzia Domenicotti, Maria Paola Nitti, Dimitri Paola, Maria Adelaide Pronzato, Emanuele Albano – 30 December 2003 – Ischemic preconditioning improves liver resistance to hypoxia and reduces reperfusion injury following transplantation. However, the intracellular signals that mediate the development of liver hypoxic preconditioning are largely unknown. We have investigated the signal pathway leading to preconditioning in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes.

Yuji Sobao, Hiroko Tomiyama, Saburo Nakamura, Hisahiko Sekihara, Katsuaki Tanaka, Masafumi Takiguchi – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐specific CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients infected with HCV were quantitatively analyzed by flow cytometry using an HLA‐B*3501‐HCV epitope tetrameric complex. In chronic hepatitis C, tetramer+CD8+ T cells were detected at frequencies ranging from 0.05% to 0.12% of total CD8+ T cells.

Nicolas Chignard, Martine Mergey, Danielle Veissière, Rolland Parc, Jacqueline Capeau, Raoul Poupon, Annick Paul, Chantal Housset – 30 December 2003 – Whether bile acids regulate biliary epithelial cell (BEC) secretory functions in human is poorly known. The purpose of the study was to determine if human gallbladder‐derived BEC exhibit bile acid transport activity that affect their secretory functions and to evaluate the influence of bile acid hydrophobicity in this response by comparing the effects of tauroursodeoxycholate (TUDC) and of taurochenodeoxycholate (TCDC).

Masahito Shimizu, Akira Hara, Masataka Okuno, Hiroyuki Matsuno, Kiyotaka Okada, Shigeru Ueshima, Osamu Matsuo, Masayuki Niwa, Kuniharu Akita, Yasuhiro Yamada, Naoki Yoshimi, Toshihiko Uematsu, Soichi Kojima, Scott L. Friedman, Hisataka Moriwaki, Hideki Mori – 30 December 2003 – Urokinase‐type plasminogen activator (uPA) is implicated in the regulation of hepatic regeneration by activating hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).