Paul Angulo, Kenneth P. Batts, Terry M. Therneau, Roberta A. Jorgensen, E. Rolland Dickson, Keith D. Lindor – 30 December 2003 – Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a progressive cholestatic liver disease frequently leading to development of cirrhosis and its complications. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a beneficial medical therapy for patients with PBC. Improvement in some histological features, but not in histological stage, has been reported after 2 years of UDCA therapy.

Claudia Schleger, Roger Becker, Franz Oesch, Pablo Steinberg – 30 December 2003 – A particular point mutation of the tumor suppressor gene p53, namely a G→T transversion at the third base of codon 249, is frequently detected in primary hepatocellular carcinomas from patients living in areas where the levels of dietary exposure to aflatoxin B1 and the rates of infection with the hepatitis B virus are very high.

Stephen A. Villano, David Vlahov, Kenrad E. Nelson, Sylvia Cohn, David L. Thomas – 30 December 2003 – The purpose of this investigation was to prospectively characterize acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and to evaluate the hypothesis that the outcome is affected by identifiable clinical or viral factors. One hundred forty‐two people with a history of illicit drug use who were HCV antibody–negative in 1988 were followed semiannually through 1996.

Abel Gorchein, Graham R. Foster – 30 December 2003

Karl P. Fischer – 30 December 2003

Tullia Maria De Feo, Silvia Fargion, Lorena Duca, Michela Mattioli, Maria Domenica Cappellini, Maurizio Sampietro, Bruno Mario Cesana, Gemino Fiorelli – 30 December 2003 – Carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin(CDT) a microheterogeneous form of serum transferrin (Tf) has been proposed as the most reliable marker of chronic alcohol consumption, although unexplained false‐positive and ‐negative results have been reported.We investigated whether body iron influenced CDT serum levels by studying alcohol abusers with or without iron overload and nonabusers with iron deficiency or iron overload cause

Man‐Fung Yuen, Wei‐Ling Lim, Chi‐Chung Cheng, Shiu‐Kam Lam, Ching‐Lung Lai – 30 December 2003 – A total of 318 children were prospectively randomized in group 1 with two 5‐μg doses of recombinant vaccine given at 0 and 1 month; in group 2 with three 5‐μg doses of recombinant vaccine given at 0, 1, and 6 months; or in group 3 with three doses of plasma‐derived vaccine given at 0, 1, and 6 months. Eleven subjects with a hepatitis B surface antigen antibody (anti‐HBs) titer of less than 10 mIU/mL at 12 months were given an extra dose of vaccine and were excluded from analysis.

Shivti Trop, Dimitri Samsonov, Israel Gotsman, Ruslana Alper, Judith Diment, Yaron Ilan – 30 December 2003 – Oral tolerance is the induction of immunological hyporesponsiveness towards orally administered antigens. Tolerance initiation involves induction of anti‐inflammatory (Th2) lymphocytes, with downregulation of pro‐inflammatory (Th1) lymphocytes. The liver was previously shown to play a critical role in oral tolerance induction.

Maria José Amaro, Javier Bartolomé, Vicente Carreño – 30 December 2003 – The capability of hepatitis B virus (HBV) to increase the transcription of the human hepatic inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) by transactivating its promoter has been studied. We have observed by reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) that although the mRNA for the iNOS was almost undetectable in the human hepatoblastoma cell line, HepG2, it was constitutively expressed in the 2.2.15 cell line (a derivative of the HepG2 that produces complete HBV particles).

Gabriella Fibbi, Marco Pucci, Cecilia Grappone, Giulia Pellegrini, Renata Salzano, Alessandro Casini, Stefano Milani, Mario Del Rosso – 30 December 2003 – During liver fibrogenesis, hepatic stellate cells (HSC) proliferate and migrate under the influence of growth factors, including platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) and basic‐fibroblast growth factor (b‐FGF). The plasminogen activation system regulates extracellular matrix (ECM) catabolism and cell movement.