Koichi Tsuneyama, Naoko Kono, Masahiro Hoso, Hiroyuki Sugahara, Kazuharu Yoshida, Kazuyoshi Katayanagi, M. Eric Gershwin, Katsuhiko Saito, Yasuni Nakanuma – 30 December 2003 – An autosomal recessive murine mutation, coined “aly/aly” or “alymphoplasia,” was recently reported. Homozygotes for aly are defective in both humoral and cell‐mediated immune function and have diffuse lymphoid cell infiltration of various tissues, particularly around the conduit ducts of the pancreas and salivary glands.

Josep M. Llovet, Jordi Bruix, Josep Fuster, Antoni Castells, Juan Carlos Garcia‐Valdecasas, Lluís Grande, Alex França, Concepció Brú, Miquel Navasa, Maria del Ayuso, Manel Solé, Maria Isabel Real, Ramon Vilana, Antoni Rimola, Josep Visa, Joan Rodés – 30 December 2003 – Tumoral recurrence rate and survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated by orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) depend on tumor stage.

Wenshi Gao, Rex C. Bentley, John F. Madden, Pierre‐Alain Clavien – 30 December 2003 – In livers excised for transplantation, sinusoidal endothelium appears especially vulnerable to injury during organ preservation in the cold and subsequent reperfusion. The degree of endothelial cell injury correlates with functional impairment of the graft following transplantation. The mechanism of injury remains obscure, but endothelial cell damage has been described as coagulative necrosis secondary to irreversible physico‐chemical damage.

Herbert L. Bonkovsky, Maureen Poh‐Fitzpatrick, Neville Pimstone, Jorge Obando, Adrian Di Bisceglie, Christine Tattrie, Kristina Tortorelli, Paula LeClair, Mary G. Mercurio, Richard W. Lambrecht – 30 December 2003 – In some, but not all countries, porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) has been associated with chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Recently, PCT has also been associated with mutations in the HFE gene that are associated with HLA‐linked hereditary hemochromatosis. Until now, few studies of these associations have been reported from North America.

Gennady P. Ilyin, Sophie Langouët, Maryvonne Rissel, Jean‐Guy Delcros, Andre Guillouzo, Christiane Guguen‐Guillouzo – 30 December 2003 – Ribavirin, a guanosine analog, used in combination with interferon α (IFN‐α) in the treatment of chronic hepatitis induced by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, has been shown to improve liver histology and to decrease transaminases even when administered alone. We analyzed the direct effects of ribavirin on the liver by using primary cultures of human and rat hepatocytes.

Kazuaki Chayama, Yoshiyuki Suzuki, Masahiro Kobayashi, Mizuho Kobayashi, Akihito Tsubota, Michie Hashimoto, Yukiko Miyano, Hiromi Koike, Mariko Kobayashi, Isao Koida, Yasuji Arase, Satoshi Saitoh, Naoya Murashima, Kenji Ikeda, Hiromitsu Kumada – 30 December 2003 – Treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) with lamivudine is effective in suppressing virus replication and results in reduced inflammatory activity. However, the emergence of lamivudine‐resistant mutant virus, with amino acid substitution in the YMDD motif of DNA polymerase, has been reported.

Andrew L. Mason, Lizhe Xu, Linsheng Guo, Mary Kuhns, Robert P. Perrillo – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA has been detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the liver of patients with resolved chronic HBV infection and sustained clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) from serum. However, it is unknown whether the virus is transcriptionally active at this time or if the covalently closed circular (CCC) replicative intermediate of HBV DNA can still be detected.

Yolande C. Keulemans, Kam S. Mok, Laurens Th de Wit, Dirk J. Gouma, Albert K. Groen – 30 December 2003 – Many studies have demonstrated that gallbladder bile (but not hepatic bile) of animals or patients with cholesterol gallstones contains higher protein concentrations than does gallbladder bile of control patients without stones or with pigment stones. The underlying defect has not been elucidated.

Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Paul Angulo, Juan Carlos Garcia, Roberto J. Groszmann, Gregory W. Cadelina – 30 December 2003 – Nitric oxide (NO) is a messenger molecule involved in pathogen suppression. Cirrhosis is characterized by an increased risk for infections, including spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). The role of NO in the infections that develop in cirrhosis has not been clearly established. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of measuring ascites NO in the diagnosis of SBP and/or in determining the predisposition of cirrhotic patients to develop this infection.

Mónica Guevara, Concepción Bru, Pere Ginès, Gloria Fernández‐Esparrach, Pau Sort, Ramón Bataller, Wladimiro Jiménez, Vicente Arroyo, Juan Rodés – 30 December 2003 – Studies assessing regional hemodynamics in patients with cirrhosis and ascites have shown vasodilation in the splanchnic circulation and vasoconstriction in the renal circulation and in the brachial and femoral artery vascular territories.The aim of this study was to assess the cerebral vascular resistance in cirrhotic patients with ascites.The resistive index in the middle cerebral artery (an index of the cerebral vascular resi