Coen C. Paulusma, M. J. Kothe, Conny T. Bakker, Piter J. Bosma, Irene van Bokhoven, Jan van Marle, Ulrich Bolder, Guido N. Tytgat, Ronald P. Elferink – 30 December 2003 – We have studied regulation of the multidrug resistance protein 2 (mrp2) during bile duct ligation (BDL) in the rat. In hepatocytes isolated after 16, 48, and 72 hours of BDL, mrp2‐mediated dinitrophenyl‐glutathione (DNP‐GS) transport was decreased to 65%, 33%, and 33% of control values, respectively.

Toshiya Ochiai, Yoji Urata, Takeshi Yamano, Hisakazu Yamagishi, Tsukasa Ashihara – 30 December 2003 – Clonal analysis has shown that hepatocellular carcinoma arises from a single cell. However, the clonality of precancerous lesions and adjacent nonneoplastic tissues is not clear. We analyzed a human androgen receptor locus to elucidate the clonal state of liver tissues including post‐hepatitic lesions associated with hepatocarcinogenesis.

Richard D. Press – 30 December 2003

Hiroyuki Marusawa, Shinji Uemoto, Makoto Hijikata, Yoshihide Ueda, Koichi Tanaka, Kunitada Shimotohno, Tsutomu Chiba – 30 December 2003 – Several recent reports have shown that hepatitis B virus (HBV) could be frequently transmitted to the recipients from donors who have antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti‐HBc) through liver transplantation. We provide here the molecular evidence of latent HBV infection accompanied with ongoing viral replication in the liver tissue of anti‐HBc–positive healthy individuals.

Bruno Christ, Emine Yazici, Annegret Nath – 30 December 2003 – The participation of phosphatidylinositol 3–kinase (PI3‐kinase), protein kinase C, and mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAP‐kinase) in the inhibition by interleukin 6 (IL‐6) and insulin of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK) gene expression was investigated in cultured rat hepatocytes. IL‐6 or insulin inhibited the glucagon‐stimulated increase in PCK messenger RNA (mRNA) by about 70%.

Xiangdong Wang, Gary C. Kanel, Laurie D. DeLeve – 30 December 2003 – Depletion of sinusoidal endothelial cell glutathione (GSH) has been proposed as a common mechanism leading to hepatic veno‐occlusive disease (HVOD). This study examines whether intraportal infusion of GSH can prevent HVOD in the monocrotaline rat model. HVOD was induced in rats with monocrotaline 160 mg/kg i.g. on day 0. GSH was infused intraportally by mini‐osmotic pump. Monocrotaline decreased GSH in sinusoidal endothelial cells, but not in liver homogenate.

Laurent Castéra, Isabelle Nègre, Kamran Samii, Catherine Buffet – 30 December 2003

Shiro Miwa, Yasuhiko Hashikura, Atsuyoshi Mita, Tatsuya Kubota, Hisanao Chisuwa, Yuichi Nakazawa, Toshihiko Ikegami, Masaru Terada, Shinichi Miyagawa, Seiji Kawasaki – 30 December 2003 – The prognosis for patients with fulminant (FHF) or subfulminant hepatic failure (SFHF) has improved since the introduction of liver transplantation. However, the death rate of patients awaiting liver transplantation is high, possibly because of the difficulty in obtaining grafts in a timely manner, given the relative shortage of cadaveric donors.

Fatima Lakehal, Dominique Wendum, Véronique Barbu, Laurent Becquemont, Raoul Poupon, Pierre Balladur, Laurent Hannoun, François Ballet, Philippe H. Beaune, Chantal Housset – 30 December 2003 – Tissue expression of drug‐metabolizing enzymes influences susceptibility to drugs and carcinogens. Because the biliary epithelium, exposed to bile‐borne chemicals, may give rise to drug‐induced cholangiopathies and to cholangiocarcinomas, we determined the pattern of expression of drug‐metabolizing enzymes in this epithelium.

Michiyo Higashi, Suguru Yonezawa, Jenny J. L. Ho, Sadao Tanaka, Tatsuro Irimura, Young S. Kim, Eiichi Sato – 30 December 2003 – Our previous immunohistochemical study on intrahepatic bile duct tumors showed that invasive cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) with a poor outcome expressed MUC1 mucin but was negative for MUC2 mucin, whereas bile duct cystadenocarcinoma (BDCC) with a favorable outcome was MUC1 negative and MUC2 positive. In the present study, ICC was further subdivided into 2 subtypes: intraductal growth type and/or periductal infiltrating type (ICC‐IP) and mass forming type (ICC‐M).