Hajime Honda, Kenichi Ikejima, Miyoko Hirose, Mutsuko Yoshikawa, Tie Lang, Nobuyuki Enomoto, Tsuneo Kitamura, Yoshiyuki Takei, Nobuhiro Sato – 30 December 2003 – In this study, we investigated hepatic fibrogenesis caused by long‐term thioacetamide (TAA) administration in ob/ob mice, a naturally occurring leptin deficient animal. In the lean littermates, prominent hepatic fibrosis, as well as positive staining for α smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), was induced by treatment with TAA (200 μg/g, IP, 3 times per week) for 4 to 8 weeks as expected.

Andrea Trombetti, Emiliano Giostra, Gilles Mentha, Francesco Negro, Rene Rizzoli – 30 December 2003

Tibor Bakács, Jitendra N. Mehrishi – 30 December 2003

Robert P. Perrillo, Ching‐Lung Lai, Yun‐Fan Liaw, Jules L. Dienstag, Eugene R. Schiff, Solko W. Schalm, E. Jenny Heathcote, Nathaniel A. Brown, Mark Atkins, Mary Woessner, Stephen D. Gardner – 30 December 2003 – Elevated alanine transaminase (ALT) levels and low serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA predict a higher likelihood of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) loss in patients with chronic hepatitis B treated with interferon. Predictors of HBeAg loss in patients treated with lamivudine are not known.

Keiji Hirata, Jean‐François Dufour, Kazunori Shibao, Roy Knickelbein, Allison F. O'Neill, Hans‐Peter Bode, Doris Cassio, Marie V. St‐Pierre, Nicholas F. LaRusso, M. Fatima Leite, Michael H. Nathanson – 30 December 2003 – Cytosolic Ca2+ (Cai2+) regulates secretion of bicarbonate and other ions in the cholangiocyte. In other cell types, this second messenger acts through Ca2+ waves, Ca2+ oscillations, and other subcellular Ca2+ signaling patterns, but little is known about the subcellular organization of Ca2+ signaling in cholangiocytes.

Olivier Chazouillères, Raoul Poupon – 30 December 2003

Michael Kaplan, Cathy Hammerman, David K. Stevenson, Hendrik J. Vreman, Maurizio Muraca – 30 December 2003

Jaspreet S. Gujral, Anwar Farhood, Mary Lynn Bajt, Hartmut Jaeschke – 30 December 2003 – Obstruction of the common bile duct in a variety of clinical settings leads to cholestatic liver injury. An important aspect of this injury is hepatic inflammation, with neutrophils as the prominent cell type involved. However, the pathophysiologic role of the infiltrating neutrophils during cholestatic liver injury remains unclear.

Chun‐Tao Wai, Joel K. Greenson, Robert J. Fontana, John D. Kalbfleisch, Jorge A. Marrero, Hari S. Conjeevaram, Anna S.‐F. Lok – 30 December 2003 – Information on the stage of liver fibrosis is essential in managing chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. However, most models for predicting liver fibrosis are complicated and separate formulas are needed to predict significant fibrosis and cirrhosis. The aim of our study was to construct one simple model consisting of routine laboratory data to predict both significant fibrosis and cirrhosis among patients with CHC.

Jingyu Diao, Darlene M. Slaney, Tomasz I. Michalak – 30 December 2003 – Viral hepatitis is frequently accompanied by humoral autoimmune responses toward both organ‐nonspecific and liver‐specific antigens, but contribution of these reactivities to liver injury remains unrecognized. Infection with woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) has been identified as a potent inducer of autoantibodies against asialoglycoprotein receptor (anti‐ASGPR), a molecule essentially unique to hepatocytes that mediates clearance of desialylated serum proteins.