Paul D. Hodgson, Tomasz I. Michalak – 30 December 2003 – Woodchucks infected with woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) have profiles of liver disease and age‐dependent rates of progression to chronic hepatitis (CH) comparable with those seen in human hepatitis B. The mechanism of recovery from acute hepadnaviral infection or its evolution to chronicity remains unknown, although the liver immune responses are expected to play an important role.

Heinz Fehrenbach, Ralf Weiskirchen, Michael Kasper, Axel M. Gressner – 30 December 2003 – Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily of cell‐surface molecules. Blockade of RAGE has been reported to considerably improve liver function and accelerate regeneration after hepatectomy. The aim of this study was to investigate the cell type–specific expression of RAGE, and to examine whether transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC) into myofibroblasts (MFB) is associated with changes in RAGE expression.

Anna Colell, Olga Coll, Carmen García‐Ruiz, Raquel París, Claudio Tiribelli, Neil Kaplowitz, José C. Fernández‐Checa – 30 December 2003 – Mitochondrial glutathione (GSH) plays a key role against tumor necrosis factor α (TNF)‐induced apoptosis because its depletion is known to sensitize hepatocytes to TNF. The present study examined the role of tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) administration to chronic ethanol‐fed rats on mitochondrial GSH levels and kinetics, mitochondrial membrane physical properties, TNF‐induced peroxide formation, and subsequent hepatocyte survival.

Hannah Kuper, Weimin Ye, Ulrika Broomé, Anders Romelsjö, Lorelei A. Mucci, Anders Ekbom, Hans‐Olov Adami, Dimitrios Trichopoulos, Olof Nyrén – 30 December 2003 – No prospective study has analyzed simultaneously chronic viral hepatitis and alcoholism as risk factors for liver carcinogenesis, while taking into consideration the role of cirrhosis. Nor has the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma among patients with chronic viral hepatitis been prospectively evaluated in a low‐risk Western population.

Tse‐Ching Chen, Yasuni Nakanuma, Yoh Zen, Miin‐Fu Chen, Yi‐Yin Jan, Ta‐Sen Yeh, Cheng Tang Chiu, Tseng‐Tong Kuo, Jun‐ichi Kamiya, Koji Oda, Michinari Hamaguchi, Yoshiyuki Ohno, Ling‐Ling Hsieh, Yuji Nimura – 30 December 2003 – Intraductal papillary growth of neoplastic biliary epithelia with a fine fibrovascular stalk (intraductal papillary neoplasia of liver [IPN‐L]) resembling intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of pancreas is occasionally associated with hepatolithiasis.

Junji Yamamoto, Shuichi Okada, Kazuaki Shimada, Takushi Okusaka, Susumu Yamasaki, Hideki Ueno, Tomoo Kosuge – 30 December 2003 – This comparative study was conducted to clarify the efficacy of percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) and surgical resection in the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). Thirty‐nine patients treated by PEI and 58 who underwent hepatic resection for small HCC (smaller than 3 cm and 3 or less in number) during the same period were enrolled. The surgery group included more patients with large and multiple bilobar nodules than the PEI group.

Yves Benhamou, Vincent Di Martino, Marie Bochet, Geneviève Colombet, Vincent Thibault, Amélie Liou, Christine Katlama, Thierry Poynard – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐related liver fibrosis progression is accelerated in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐infected patients. The effect of protease inhibitor (PI) therapy on liver fibrosis is unknown. The aim of this work was to analyze the impact of PI therapy on HCV‐related liver fibrosis in HIV/HCV coinfected patients.

Stephan Krähenbühl – 30 December 2003

Yasuhiro Asahina, Namiki Izumi, Masakatsu Uchihara, Osamu Noguchi, Kaoru Tsuchiya, Kosei Hamano, Nobuhiko Kanazawa, Jun Itakura, Shozo Miyake, Takahiro Sakai – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known to infect and replicate within peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), thereby enabling the direct evaluation of antiviral mechanisms by analyzing HCV dynamics in PBMC.

Nathalie Théret, Orlando Musso, Bruno Turlin, Dominique Lotrian, Paulette Bioulac‐Sage, Jean‐Pierre Campion, Karim Boudjéma, Bruno Clément – 30 December 2003 – Matrix metalloproteinase‐2 (MMP2) is a key enzyme in the process of extracellular matrix remodeling involved in tumor invasion and metastasis. The activation of MMP2 involves interplay with the membrane type‐matrix metalloproteinase‐1 (MT1‐MMP) and the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐2 (TIMP2). In vitro, activated hepatic stellate cells are a main source of MMP2 and collagen I induces MMP2 activation.