Martin I. Prince, Amanda Chetwynd, Peter Diggle, Mikala Jarner, Jane V. Metcalf, Oliver F. W. James – 30 December 2003 – The incidence of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) varies widely between regions. However, little is known about variation within regions and the degree to which this may reflect environmental risk factors. The aim of this study was to describe the spatial distribution of cases of PBC in a defined region of Northeast England over a defined period, and to assess the magnitude of any departure from random spatial distribution.

Anna Ludovica Fracanzani, Larry Burdick, Mauro Borzio, Massimo Roncalli, Nicola Bonelli, Franco Borzio, Alessandra Maraschi, Gemino Fiorelli, Silvia Fargion – 30 December 2003 – Hepatocellular carcinogenesis in cirrhosis is a multistage process that includes large regenerative nodules, dysplastic nodules, and hepatocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to establish whether contrast‐enhanced Doppler ultrasonography (US) is able to distinguish between early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and small nonmalignant nodules in cirrhosis.

Andrew Pascoe, Paul Kerlin, Dianne Jones – 30 December 2003

Fabien Zoulim, Christian Trépo – 30 December 2003

Arun J. Sanyal – 30 December 2003

Thierry Poynard, John McHutchison, Gary L. Davis, Rafael Esteban‐Mur, Zachary Goodman, Pierre Bedossa, Janice Albrecht – 30 December 2003 – The extent of liver fibrosis is an important prognostic factor in patients infected with hepatitis C virus. Administration of a combination of interferon and ribavirin produces a superior viral clearance response rate than interferon alone. The effect of this combination regimen on hepatic fibrosis has not been established.

George J.M. Webster, Stephanie Reignat, Mala K. Maini, Simon A. Whalley, Graham S. Ogg, Abigail King, David Brown, Peter L. Amlot, Roger Williams, Diego Vergani, Geoffrey M. Dusheiko, Antonio Bertoletti – 30 December 2003 – After hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, liver injury and viral control have been thought to result from lysis of infected hepatocytes by virus‐specific cytotoxic T cells. Patients are usually studied only after developing significant liver injury, and so the viral and immune events during the incubation phase of disease have not been defined.

Atsushi Tanaka, Gregory Nalbandian, Patrick S.C. Leung, Gordon D. Benson, Santiago Munoz, Jorge A. Findor, Andrea D. Branch, Ross L. Coppel, Aftab A. Ansari, M. Eric Gershwin – 30 December 2003 – We have shown that IgA‐class antimitochondrial autoantibodies (AMA) can be detected in the bile and saliva of patients with PBC, suggesting that AMA are secreted into the luminal fluid across bile ducts and salivary glands. These data prompted us to determine whether AMA of the IgA isotype may be transported across other epithelial mucosa.

Jean‐Michel Pawlotsky – 30 December 2003

Philip Hilgard, Richard Stockert – 30 December 2003 – Dengue viruses (DEN) cause a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations including potentially life‐threatening conditions such as hemorrhagic shock syndrome and less frequently acute hepatitis with liver failure and encephalopathy. In addition, dengue viruses provide a potential model to understand the initiation of hepatocyte infection by the structurally closely related hepatitis C virus (HCV), because this virus at present cannot be grown in cell culture.