Pretransplantation tumor necrosis factor‐α production predicts acute rejection after liver transplantation

Andrew J. Bathgate, Patricia Lee, Peter C. Hayes, Kenneth J. Simpson – 30 December 2003 – Immunosuppressive therapy has many adverse effects in both the short and longer term. Tailoring immunosuppression might be possible if pretransplantation parameters predicted rejection. We investigated production of the proinflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), and the anti‐inflammatory cytokine, interleukin‐10 (IL‐10), pretransplantation to determine whether there is a relation with acute rejection.

Adenovirus‐mediated expression of Cu/Zn‐ or Mn‐superoxide dismutase protects against CYP2E1‐dependent toxicity

María José Pérez, Arthur I. Cederbaum – 30 December 2003 – CYP2E1 induction by ethanol is one mechanism by which ethanol creates oxidative stress in the liver. The superoxide dismutases (SODs) are an important antioxidant enzyme defense system against reactive oxygen species (ROS). To investigate the protective role of SOD against CYP2E1‐dependent toxicity, a transfected HepG2 cell line overexpressing CYP2E1 (E47 cells) was infected with adenoviral vectors containing Cu/Zn‐SOD complementary DNA (cDNA) (Ad.SOD1) and Mn‐SOD cDNA (Ad.SOD2).

Novel differential gene expression in human cirrhosis detected by suppression subtractive hybridization

Nicholas A. Shackel, Peter H. McGuinness, Catherine A. Abbott, Mark D. Gorrell, Geoffrey W. McCaughan – 30 December 2003 – Pathogenic molecular pathways in cirrhotic liver diseases such as hepatitis C virus (HCV), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) are poorly characterized. Differentially expressed genes are often important in disease pathogenesis. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) is a genome‐wide approach that enriches for differentially expressed mRNA transcripts.

Epidemiology of primary hepatic malignancies in U.S. children

Anil Darbari, Keith M. Sabin, Craig N. Shapiro, Kathleen B. Schwarz – 30 December 2003 – The epidemiology of primary hepatic malignancies in U.S. children is poorly characterized. We analyzed the incidence, mortality, and characteristics of primary hepatic malignancies in U.S. residents less than 20 years of age. Fatal primary hepatic malignancies in persons less than 20 years of age, between 1979 and 1996, were identified using the multiple‐cause‐of‐death database (National Center for Health Statistics).

Transcriptional regulation of the human transferrin gene by GADD153 in hepatoma cells

Kyung‐Ran You, Ming‐Jie Liu, Xue‐Ji Han, Zee‐Won Lee, Dae‐Ghon Kim – 30 December 2003 – The transcription factor CHOP/GADD153 is reportedly induced by cellular stresses such as UV light, genotoxic agents, and protein misfolding in the endoplasmic reticulum. However, the mechanism whereby induction of the GADD153 gene is linked to a downstream pathway is still unclear.

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