Tatu E. Miettinen, Tuula Kiviluoto, Matti Taavitsainen, Matti Vuoristo, Tatu A. Miettinen – 30 December 2003 – Effects of long‐term high‐dose ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and simvastatin treatments on cholesterol metabolism and biliary lipid compositions were compared in patients with cholesterol gallstones. Absorption and synthesis of cholesterol, serum and biliary noncholesterol sterols and lipids were determined in 14 patients randomized to UDCA (23‐25 mg/kg/d) or simvastatin (40 mg/d) for 1 year. Simvastatin reduced serum low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol by 55%, and UDCA, by 9%.

Gianluca Svegliati Baroni, Letizia D'Ambrosio, Gianna Ferretti, Alessandro Casini, Antonio Di Sario, Renata Salzano, Francesco Ridolfi, Stefania Saccomanno, Anne Marie Jezequel, Antonio Benedetti – 30 December 2003 – Oxidative stress is associated with liver fibrosis and with hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation in vivo. However, it remains controversial whether oxidative stress contributes to HSC activation either directly or through a paracrine stimulation by damaged hepatocytes.

Kenji Kaneda, Wichai Ekataksin, Mitsue Sogawa, Akiko Matsumura, Akikuni Cho, Norifumi Kawada – 30 December 2003 – Intraportal infusion of endothelin‐1 (ET‐1), a potent vasoconstrictor, significantly elevates portal venous pressure. To determine the major site of vascular constriction in the intrahepatic porto‐sinusoidal system, we performed an in situ perfusion of rat livers with 1 nmol/L ET‐1 at a flow rate of 20 mL/min. Portal pressure rose from 22 cm H2O to 54 cm H2O within 25 minutes. Specimens were prepared for light‐microscopic serial reconstruction and electron microscopy.

Raymond F. Burk, Dayna S. Early, Kristina E. Hill, Ivan S. Palmer, Martha E. Boeglin – 30 December 2003 – Plasma selenium concentration is decreased in patients with cirrhosis and, based on this finding, it has been suggested that patients with cirrhosis are selenium deficient. We measured plasma selenium concentration and the two plasma selenoproteins, glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx‐3) and selenoprotein P, in the plasma of patients with cirrhosis of Child classes A, B, and C and in control subjects.

Masaki Kaibori, A‐H. Kwon, Michio Oda, Yasuo Kamiyama, Naomi Kitamura, Tadayoshi Okumura – 30 December 2003 – We have reported that infusion of recombinant human hepatocyte growth factor (rhHGF) stimulates liver regeneration after hepatectomy in cirrhotic rats and increases the level of serum lipids and secretion of very‐low density lipoprotein (VLDL). Studies were now performed to determine whether rhHGF directly influences lipid synthesis and its secretion in cultured rat hepatocytes. Isolated cells were cultured in the presence or absence of rhHGF (20 ng/mL) for 2 days.

Masaru Enomoto, Shuhei Nishiguchi, Katsuhiko Fukuda, Tetsuo Kuroki, Motoharu Tanaka, Shuzo Otani, Masayuki Ogami, Takeyuki Monna – 30 December 2003 – GB virus C/hepatitis G virus (GBV‐C/HGV) infection seems to be common among patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We studied retrospectively the proportions of patients with GBV‐C/HGV RNA and antibodies to the GBV‐C/HGV second envelope protein (anti‐E2) among 149 subjects with chronic hepatitis C who had received interferon alfa.

Kichiko Koike, Hiromi Ishibashi, Masahiko Koike – 30 December 2003 – Analysis of the primary structure of the lipoyl domain of the dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase (PDC‐E2) component of the porcine pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) reveals a high degree of homology with M2 antigen and human PDC‐E2. The porcine PDC‐E2 and the dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase (OGDC‐E2) component of the porcine 2‐oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (OGDC) were identified as mitochondrial autoantigen with sera from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).

Jinshan Shen, Jadine A. Moy, Mitchell D. Green, F. Peter Guengerich, Jeffrey Baron – 30 December 2003 – Although intrahepatic biliary epithelial cells are targets for certain hepatotoxic chemicals, including some procarcinogens, their ability to monooxygenate, and thereby bioactivate and inactivate xenobiotics, remains to be established. Thus, the present study was undertaken to immunohistochemically determine if cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1/1A2 is present and can be induced within these non‐ parenchymal liver cells.

Vito L. Burgio, Giorgio Ballardini, Marco Artini, Marcello Caratozzolo, Francesco B. Bianchi, Massimo Levrero – 30 December 2003 – In this paper we show that in viral hepatitis most Kupffer cells (KCs) are activated and express high levels of CD80, CD40, and class‐II MHC molecules, thus acquiring the phenotype of professional antigen presenting cells (APCs). Activated KCs display a close contact with CD4+ T lymphocytes and form KCs‐T lymphocyte clusters.

Marchelle I. Allen, Manon Deslauriers, C. Webster Andrews, Graham A. Tipples, Kathie‐Anne Walters, David L. Tyrrell, Nathaniel Brown, Lamivudine Clinical Investigation Group, Lynn D. Condreay – 30 December 2003 – Cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma occur as long‐term complications of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Antiviral therapy is potentially a successful approach for the treatment of patients with HBV infection, which includes the nucleoside analog, lamivudine [(‐)2′‐deoxy‐3′‐thiacytidine, 3TC].