Herbert L. Bonkovsky, J. Michael Woolley – 30 December 2003 – The natural history, prognosis, and clinical significance of chronic hepatitis C are highly variable and somewhat controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of chronic hepatitis C infection on patients' perceptions of health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) and to evaluate whether treatment with interferon improves HRQOL.

Albert Geerts, Vera Rogiers – 30 December 2003

Scott Kellerman, Miriam J. Alter – 30 December 2003

Marcello Piazza – 30 December 2003

Ran Oren, Mariana D. Dabeva, Petko M. Petkov, Ethel Hurston, Ezio Laconi, David A. Shafritz – 30 December 2003 – Recently, we described a new strategy for hepatocyte transplantation, using retrorsine/partial hepatectomy (PH) in a DPPIV− mutant Fischer rat model. Treatment of rats with retrorsine, a pyrrolizidine alkaloid, blocks endogenous hepatocytes from proliferating, so that after exposure to this agent coupled with PH and hepatocyte transplantation, transplanted hepatocytes selectively repopulate the liver.

Violina Lozeva, Antti Valjakka, Eeva Anttila, Ewen MacDonald, Mikko Hippeläinen, Leena Tuomisto – 30 December 2003 – To determine whether the increased histamine levels in the brain of rats with portacaval anastomosis (PCA) are associated with the development of sleep disturbances during the light phase, the neocortical slow‐wave activity of PCA‐operated rats was examined with electroencephalography (EEG) 1 month and 6 months after the surgery.

Donatella Barisani, Gaetano Cairo, Enrico Ginelli, Anna Marozzi, Dario Conte – 30 December 2003 – Nitric oxide (NO) donors S‐nitroso‐N‐acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) modulate iron regulatory protein (IRP) activity and may, therefore, affect iron uptake through transferrin receptor expression. However, iron also enters the cell as nontransferrin‐bound iron (NTBI), and the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of NO donors on NTBI transport in HepG2 cells, a model of liver physiology.

Hartmut Jaeschke, Ye‐Shih Ho, Michael A. Fisher, Judy A. Lawson, Anwar Farhood – 30 December 2003 – Neutrophils contribute to hepatocellular injury in a number of acuteinflammatory reactions. However, the molecular mechanism of parenchymal cell injury remains controversial. To address the issue of whether or not reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important in the injury process, we used the galactosamine/endotoxin (Gal/ET) model of acute liver failure, which involves a neutrophil‐mediated parenchymal cell injury.

Stephanos Hadziyannis, Basil Karamanos – 30 December 2003

Paul Angulo, Kenneth P. Batts, Terry M. Therneau, Roberta A. Jorgensen, E. Rolland Dickson, Keith D. Lindor – 30 December 2003 – Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a progressive cholestatic liver disease frequently leading to development of cirrhosis and its complications. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a beneficial medical therapy for patients with PBC. Improvement in some histological features, but not in histological stage, has been reported after 2 years of UDCA therapy.