Anderson S. Gaweco, Russell H. Wiesner, Sherri Yong, Ruud Krom, Michael Porayko, Gregorio Chejfec, Kenneth D. McClatchey – 30 December 2003 – The CD40‐CD40L (CD154) interaction plays a pivotal role in the effector mechanisms of allograft rejection. Blockade of the CD40/CD40L costimulatory pathway prevents the development of chronic allograft rejection in several animal transplant models. The relevance of in situ CD40 and CD40L expression in human liver allografts was assessed by immunohistochemistry during ductopenic chronic rejection (CR).

M. Isabel Fiel, Thomas D. Schiano, Henry C. Bodenheimer, Swan N. Thung, Thomas W. King, C. Rathna Varma, Charles M. Miller, Elizabeth M. Brunt, Steven Starnes, Cynthia Prass, Roger K. Wolff, Bruce R. Bacon – 30 December 2003 – A candidate gene, HFE, was recently described in patients with hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) and found to contain a missense mutation leading to a cysteine to tyrosine substitution (C282Y). A second mutation, H63D, was also found in the gene.

John F. Renz, Jennifer Lightdale, Christine Mudge, Peter Bacchetti, Jennifer Watson, Nancy L. Ascher, Jean C. Emond, Philip Rosenthal, John P. Roberts – 30 December 2003 – Triple immunosuppressive therapy using mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), microemulsion cyclosporine (me‐CsA), and prednisone offers the potential for potent immunosuppression without intravenous drug therapy or anti–T‐cell antibody induction therapy.

Ron Hoffman, Assy Nimer, Naomi Lanir, Benjamin Brenner, Yaacov Baruch – 30 December 2003 – Budd‐Chiari syndrome is characterized by hepatic venous outflow obstruction. Although myeloproliferative disorders are usually responsible for this severe thrombotic disorder, deficiency or dysfunction of the natural anticoagulants can be involved. Resistance to activated protein C caused by factor V Leiden mutation has been recently identified as a major cause of thrombophilia.

Halima Serrar, Ayman El‐Kadi, Patrick Du Souich, Pierre Haddad – 30 December 2003 – We compared the capacity of University of Wisconsin (UW) and of sodium‐lactobionate‐sucrose (SLS) hypothermic preservation solutions to maintain the integrity of the hepatic cytochrome P‐450–dependent mono‐oxygenase system. Isolated rat hepatocytes were stored for 0, 10, 24, and 48 hours in UW or SLS solution and were subsequently cultured shortly at 37°C.

Andre De Wolf – 30 December 2003

Robert J. Fontana, Timothy M. McCashland, Kent G. Benner, Henry D. Appelman, Naresh T. Gunartanam, James L. Wisecarver, John M. Rabkin, William M. Lee, Acute Liver Failure Study Group – 30 December 2003 – Bromfenac, a nonnarcotic analgesic nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug, was associated with reversible, minor elevations in serum aminotransferase levels during clinical trials.

Andrew J. Bathgate, Paula Hynd, David Sommerville, Peter C. Hayes – 30 December 2003 – The occurrence of acute cellular rejection after orthotopic liver transplantation is common. At present, no allowance is made in immunosuppressive regimens for parameters other than weight. We investigated parameters in 121 consecutive patients receiving their primary allograft to determine if there are pretransplantation factors predicting the occurrence of acute cellular rejection after transplantation.

Stephen M. Riordan, Roger Williams – 30 December 2003

Atsushi Tanaka, Keith Lindor, Aftab Ansari, M. Eric Gershwin – 30 December 2003 – The previously held concept that the fetus is completely separated from the mother, especially by trophoblasts that line the outer layer of the placenta, has recently been questioned. It has recently been shown that fetal cells are detectable not only in the peripheral blood, but also in maternal skin and liver.