David Edwin, Laura Flynn, Andrew Klein, Paul J. Thuluvath – 30 December 2003 – Cognitive impairment is common in patients with advanced liver disease. It has been suggested that patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) have more impaired cognition than nonalcoholics. The objective of this study was to characterize any differences in cognitive functions between alcoholic cirrhotic patients and non–alcoholic cirrhotic patients of similar age, education, and severity of liver disease.

Joongwon Park, Laura Tadlock, Gregory J. Gores, Tushar Patel – 30 December 2003 – Biliary tract malignancies represent challenges because of the lack of effective therapy and poor prognosis, in part because of the paucity of information regarding the mechanisms regulating their growth. We have recently identified a critical role for the p44/p42 mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in interleukin 6 (IL‐6)–stimulated growth of human cholangiocytes.

Mary Ann Crissey, Julia I. Leu, Robert A. De Angelis, Linda E. Greenbaum, L. Marie Scearce, Kellen Kovalovich, Rebecca Taub – 30 December 2003 – The insulin‐like growth factor binding protein‐1 (IGFBP‐1) gene is highly expressed in fetal, perinatal, and regenerating liver. Up‐regulation is transcriptionally mediated in regenerating liver and occurs in the first few minutes to hours after partial hepatectomy. In transgenic mice a 970‐bp region from −776 to +151 of the IGFBP‐1 promoter was sufficient for tissue‐specific and induced expression of the gene in fetal and hepatectomized livers.

Anthonise A. Louis, Peter Van Eyken, Barbara A. Haber, Carol Hicks, Gerry Weinmaster, Rebecca Taub, Elizabeth B. Rand – 30 December 2003 – Mutations in Jagged1, a Notch ligand, have been shown to result in Alagille syndrome (AGS), however, the causal link between haploinsufficiency of Jagged1 and intrahepatic ductal paucity is unknown. This survey was performed to determine the expression pattern of Jagged1 in the fetal and postnatal liver.

Ivo W. Graziadei, Russell H. Wiesner, Paul J. Marotta, Michael K. Porayko, J. Eileen Hay, Michael R. Charlton, John J. Poterucha, Charles B. Rosen, Gregory J. Gores, Nicholas F. LaRusso, Ruud A. F. Krom – 30 December 2003 – Liver transplantation is the only effective therapeutic option for patients with end‐stage liver disease due to primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). In this study, we analyzed a single center's experience with 150 consecutive PSC patients who received 174 liver allografts. Mean follow‐up was 55 months.

Richard Whalen, Don C. Rockey, Scott L. Friedman, Thomas D. Boyer – 30 December 2003 – Oxidative stress, mediated partly by lipid peroxidation products, may lead to increased collagen synthesis by hepatic stellate cells (HSC). Stellate cells are protected from oxidative stress by enzymes of detoxication such as the glutathioneS‐transferases (GSTs), which form glutathione conjugates with lipid peroxidation products (e.g., 4‐hydroxy‐2‐nonenal [HNE]).

Thomas M. Shehab, Seema S. Sonnad, Mark Jeffries, Naresh Gunaratnum, Anna S. Lok – 30 December 2003 – Approximately 4 million Americans are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Most patients with hepatitis C have no symptoms until cirrhosis is established. Thus, initial diagnosis and management of hepatitis C rely on primary care physicians identifying and screening high‐risk individuals.

Sarah Jane Schwarzenberg – 30 December 2003

Antonietta Cargnel, Guido Gubertini, Carlo Magnani, Simona Bosis, Fulvia Colombo, Mario Clerici – 30 December 2003

Mark V. Mazziotti, Lauren K. Willis, Robert O. Heuckeroth, Marie C. LaRegina, Paul E. Swanson, Paul A. Overbeek, David H. Perlmutter – 30 December 2003 – Extrahepatic biliary atresia (BA) is a devastating disease of the neonate in which the hepatic and/or common bile duct is obliterated or interrupted. Infants and children with this diagnosis constitute 50% to 60% of the pediatric population that undergoes orthotopic liver transplantation. However, there is still very little known about the etiology and pathogenesis of BA.