Emanuela Cova, Ai‐Yu Gong, Raul A. Marinelli, Nicholas F. LaRusso – 30 December 2003 – In recent studies using freshly isolated rat cholangiocytes, we established that water crosses the cholangiocyte membrane by a channel‐mediated mechanism involving aquaporins, a family of water‐channel proteins. Our goal was to address the importance of channel‐mediated water transport in ductal bile formation by employing a physiologic experimental model, the enclosed, polarized rat intrahepatic bile duct unit (IBDU).

Hsiang Ju Lin, Leonard B. Seeff, Luiz Barbosa, F. Blaine Hollinger – 30 December 2003 – A total of 240 stored serum specimens from 30 transfusion recipients and 120 blood donors from the Transfusion‐Transmitted Viruses Study (TTVS) were evaluated with the objective of establishing transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) by specific blood donors. Phylogenetic analysis of hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) and HCV genotyping were performed on the genomic region encoding amino acids 329 to 410. Amino acid distances between HVR1 sequences were calculated by the Kimura formula.

Kenichi Ikejima, Hajime Honda, Mutsuko Yoshikawa, Miyoko Hirose, Tsuneo Kitamura, Yoshiyuki Takei, Nobuhiro Sato – 30 December 2003 – Lines of evidence suggested a possible link between leptin and hepatic fibrosis; however, whether leptin modulates the fibrogenesis in the liver remains unclear. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the effect of leptin on inflammatory and profibrogenic responses in the liver caused by hepatotoxic chemicals.

W. Ray Kim, Walter Kremers, Patrick S. Kamath, Russell H. Wiesner, Michael Malinchoc, Terry M. Therneau, E. Rolland Dickson – 30 December 2003

Tuan H. Vu, Kurenai Tanji, Stephen A. Holve, Eduardo Bonilla, Ronald J. Sokol, Russell D. Snyder, Stephany Fiore, Gail H. Deutsch, Salvatore DiMauro, Darryl De Vivo – 30 December 2003 – Navajo neurohepatopathy (NNH) is an autosomal recessive disease of full‐blooded Navajo children living in the Navajo Reservation of southwestern United States. Clinical features of NNH include peripheral and central nervous system involvement, acral mutilation, corneal scarring or ulceration, liver failure, and metabolic and immunologic derangement.

Miguel R. Arguedas, Anita Johnson, Mohamad A. Eloubeidi, Michael B. Fallon – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccination is recommended in chronic liver disease because of an increased morbidity and mortality associated with HAV superinfection. However, data regarding the efficacy of HAV vaccination in patients with advanced chronic liver disease is limited. We assessed the efficacy of a standard HAV vaccination schedule in decompensated chronic liver disease in comparison with compensated disease and defined clinical predictors associated with seroconversion.

Hari S. Conjeevaram, Anna S. Lok – 30 December 2003

Nancy W. Y. Leung, Ching‐Lung Lai, Ting‐Tsung Chang, Richard Guan, Chuan‐Mo Lee, Keng‐Yeen Ng, Seng‐Gee Lim, Pui‐Chee Wu, Julie C. Dent, Sally Edmundson, Lynn D. Condreay, Rong‐Nan Chien, on behalf of the ASIA HEPATITIS LAMIVUDINE STUDY GROUP – 30 December 2003 – A study in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B showed that treatment with lamivudine for 1 year significantly improves liver histology and enhances hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion compared with placebo.

John W. Barnwell – 30 December 2003

Marius C. Van Den Heuvel, Maarten J. H. Slooff, Lydia Visser, Michael Muller, Koert P. De Jong, Sibrand Poppema, Annette S. H. Gouw – 30 December 2003 – Following hepatic injury, proliferation of anastomosing ductules can be observed. The origin of this ductular reaction is not completely clear, although there is considerable evidence for proliferation of a putative hepatic progenitor cell, reported to be located in the canals of Hering (CoH) and showing morphologic similarities with rat oval cells.