Jean‐François Cadranel, Pierre Rufat, Françoise Degos – 30 December 2003 – A nationwide prospective study was conducted in France in 89 university and primary referral hospitals' liver units to evaluate practices of liver biopsy and the occurrence of complications. A total of 2,084 biopsies were analyzed, recording the indication, hemostasis parameters, experience of operator, route of biopsy, use of ultrasonography (US), type of hospitalization, side effects, and complications. Pain, anxiety, and discomfort were evaluated by patients by visual analogue scale (VAS).

Cheng Liao, Mujun Zhao, Hai Song, Kiyoshi Uchida, Kazunari K. Yokoyama, Tsaiping Li – 30 December 2003 – Human chromosome 8p23 is known as a region that is associated with loss of heterozygosity (LOH), which is frequently deleted in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues. We report here the characterization of a gene for a liver‐related putative tumor suppressor (LPTS) localized at 8p23, that was isolated by allelic‐loss mapping and positional candidate cloning.

W. Ray Kim, Keith D. Lindor, Michael Malinchoc, Jan L. Petz, Roberta Jorgensen, E. Rolland Dickson – 30 December 2003 – The NIDDK‐QA instrument, developed and widely used in liver transplant recipients, assesses quality of life (QOL) in four domains, including liver disease symptoms, physical function, health satisfaction, and overall well‐being. We investigated whether the instrument may be used as a disease‐specific instrument in ambulatory patients with cholestatic liver disease.

Folke Schläger, Stephan Schaefer, Markus Metzler, Nils Gratzki, Fritz Lampert, Wolfram H. Gerlich, Reinald Repp – 30 December 2003 – Many variants of hepatitis B virus (HBV) with deletions in the viral genome have been identified. Some of these variants are indicator or even effector of a more severe course of hepatitis. These deletion mutants contribute a variable and sometimes very low proportion to the viral population.

Junpei Hayashi, Hiroshi Aoki, Kazunori Kajino, Mitsuhiko Moriyama, Yasuyuki Arakawa, Okio Hino – 30 December 2003 – Persistent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with the development of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), although the mechanism of HCV‐related hepatocarcinogenesis remains unclear. Recently, however, the close relationships between the development of HCC and the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal–regulated protein kinase (ERK) cascade have been described.

Sung Won Cho, Ki‐Baik Hahm, Jin Hong Kim – 30 December 2003 – The effect of lamivudine administration on the evolution of precore/core promoter mutation is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the changes of precore/core promoter sequences in chronic type B hepatitis patients treated with lamivudine. Serial sera were obtained from 11 patients before, at the beginning of, and during therapy. Serum samples were polymerase chain reaction‐amplified, and nucleotide sequences of hepatitis B virus (HBV) were analyzed.

Rebecca W. Van Dyke – 30 December 2003 – In prior studies, we showed that cholera (CTX) and pertussis toxins (PTX) increase rat liver endosome acidification. This study was performed to characterize the effects of these toxins and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) on endosome ion transport, fluid‐phase endocytosis (FPE), and endosome trafficking in liver. In control liver, more mature populations of endosomes acidified progressively more slowly, but both toxins and cAMP caused retention of an early endosome acidification profile in maturing endosomes.

Christopher D. Jolley, John M. Dietschy, Stephen D. Turley – 30 December 2003 – High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is believed to be preferentially utilized for bile acid synthesis and biliary secretion. In mice, the deletion of apolipoprotein AI (apo AI), the major apolipoprotein in HDL, results in very low plasma HDL‐cholesterol levels. This article describes bile acid metabolism in apo AI‐deficient (Apo AI−/−) mice and their C57BL/6 (Apo AI+/+) controls fed either a basal rodent diet alone or containing cholesterol or cholestyramine.

Yuichi Nakazawa, Julie R. Jonsson, Neal I. Walker, Paul Kerlin, Charles Steadman, Stephen V. Lynch, Russell W. Strong, Andrew D. Clouston – 30 December 2003 – Fibrosis in liver allografts undergoing chronic rejection (CR) is variable and poorly understood. The temporal and spatial relationships of venous, arterial, and biliary lesions were studied to clarify their potential contributions to graft fibrosis. The severity, prevalence, and morphology of intimal lesions of vessels were analyzed and compared with the fibrosis stage.

Marcelo G. Roma, Piotr Milkiewicz, Elwyn Elias, Roger Coleman – 30 December 2003 – Hormonal control of the restoration of hepatocanalicular polarity in short‐term cultured hepatocyte couplets was analyzed. One hour following isolation, couplets were unable to accumulate the fluorescent bile acid analogue, cholyl‐lysyl‐fluorescein (CLF), and showed a nonpolarized distribution of F‐actin and mrp2 over the cell body. A progressive, time‐dependent restoration of couplet‐polarized function and morphology was reached after 4 hours of culture.