Natalia Nieto, Jose A. Dominguez‐Rosales, Luis Fontana, Adriana Salazar, Juan Armendariz‐Borunda, Patricia Greenwel, Marcos Rojkind – 30 December 2003 – The acute‐phase response (APR) represents a systemic reaction of the organism to multiple nonspecific inflammatory stimuli. In general, it is protective for the host, and hepatocytes are the main cells responding with alterations in the expression of a set of liver‐specific proteins named the acute‐phase proteins.

Baruch Yerushalmi, Rolf Dahl, Michael W. Devereaux, Eric Gumpricht, Ronald J. Sokol – 30 December 2003 – The accumulation of hydrophobic bile acids plays a role in the induction of apoptosis and necrosis of hepatocytes during cholestasis. The aim of this study was to determine in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes the roles of oxidant stress and the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) in bile acid‐induced apoptosis.

Beatriz Castañeda, Josephine Morales, Raffaella Lionetti, Eduardo Moitinho, Victoria Andreu, Sofía Pérez‐del‐Pulgar, Pilar Pizcueta, Juan Rodés, Jaime Bosch – 30 December 2003 – The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of different strategies of blood volume restitution in the outcome of portal hypertension–related bleeding in anesthetized cirrhotic rats. Gastrointestinal hemorrhage was induced by sectioning a first order branch of the ileocolic vein in 38 cirrhotic rats (common bile duct ligation and occlusion).

Ahmed Helmy, Rajiv Jalan, David Ernest Newby, Neil Russell Johnston, Peter Clive Hayes, David John Webb – 30 December 2003 – Plasma endothelin concentrations are elevated in cirrhosis and correlate with disease severity. This study assessed forearm vascular responses to exogenous endothelin‐1 (ET‐1), and evaluated the contribution of endogenous ET‐1 to the maintenance of basal peripheral vascular tone in patients with well‐compensated cirrhosis (n = 11) and matched healthy controls (n = 8).

Satdarshan P. S. Monga, Peter Pediaditakis, Karen Mule, Donna Beer Stolz, George K. Michalopoulos – 30 December 2003 – The wnt/β‐catenin pathway is important during embryogenesis and carcinogenesis. β‐Catenin interaction with E‐cadherin has been shown to be crucial in cell‐cell adhesion. We report novel findings in the wnt pathway during rat liver regeneration after 70% partial hepatectomy using Western blot analyses, immunoprecipitation studies, and immunofluorescence. We found wnt‐1 and β‐catenin proteins to be predominantly localized in hepatocytes.

Curt Einarsson, Carl‐Gustaf Hillebrant, Magnus Axelson – 30 December 2003 – The degradation of cholesterol to bile acids is regulated by a negative‐feedback mechanism by the bile acids, especially the hydrophobic bile acids, returning to the liver via the portal vein. Chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) is a potent suppressor of the cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase, the rate‐determining enzyme in bile acid formation. CDCA may also suppress hepatic 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methyl glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase, the rate‐limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis.

Regine Kluge, Frank Schmidt, Karel Caca, Henryk Barthel, Swen Hesse, Peter Georgi, Anita Seese, Dominik Huster, Frieder Berr – 30 December 2003 – Malignant tumors with high glucose metabolic rates accumulate [18F]‐fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a positron emitting tracer. The aim of this study was to evaluate FDG positron emission tomography (PET) for detection and staging of human cholangiocarcinoma (CC).

Ken‐Ichi Taguchi, Shin‐Ichi Aishima, Yoshiki Asayama, Kiyoshi Kajiyama, Naoko Kinukawa, Mitsuo Shimada, Keizo Sugimachi, Masazumi Tsuneyoshi – 30 December 2003 – Recent studies have reported that a decreased p27kip1 protein (p27) expression is associated with aggressive tumor behavior in several human malignancies.

Thomas Bachrich, Therese Thalhammer, Walter Jäger, Petra Haslmayer, Belma Alihodzic, Silvia Bakos, Eva Hitchman, Adrian M. Senderowicz, Edward Penner – 30 December 2003 – Uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) was identified as an antigenic target in a subgroup of liver‐kidney microsomal autoantibodies and was termed LKM‐3.

Josep M. Llovet, Ramon Vilana, Concepció Brú, Lluís Bianchi, Joan Manuel Salmeron, Loreto Boix, Sergi Ganau, Margarita Sala, Mario Pagès, Carmen Ayuso, Manel Solé, Joan Rodés, Jordi Bruix – 30 December 2003 – Radiofrequency (RF) ablation is an alternative to percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) for single nonsurgical hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and is currently used as adjuvant therapy before liver transplantation. This phase II study assesses the treatment‐related complications and response rate of RF for the treatment of single HCC ≤5 cm.