Resistance of HBV to adefovir dipivoxil: A case for combination antiviral therapy?

Costica Aloman, Jack R. Wands – 30 December 2003 – Background & Aims: Adefovir dipivoxil effectively inhibits both hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication and disease activity in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Resistance to treatment was not observed in 2 recent large placebo‐controlled 48‐week studies with this drug. The aim of this study was to characterize adefovir resistance in a patient who developed clinical and virologic evidence of breakthrough during a 96‐week course of treatment. Methods: HBV DNA was PCR amplified and sequenced.

The NIDDK Liver Transplantation Database

Y L Wei, K M Detre, J E Everhart – 30 December 2003 – The NIDDK Liver Transplantation Database was established to prospectively investigate questions related to the experience of patients evaluated for and undergoing liver transplantation. This article presents the study design, methods, and quality of data collection, along with some of the overall results. Methods: An initial 4‐year planning phase was used to develop data collection instruments and quality control procedures regarding assessment for transplantation, liver donors, and the recipients' pre‐, peri‐ and postoperative course.

Viral dynamics and response differences in HCV‐infected African American and white patients treated with IFN and ribavirin

Jennifer E. Layden‐Almer, Ruy M. Ribeiro, Thelma Wiley, Alan S. Perelson, Thomas J. Layden – 30 December 2003 – Studies have suggested that African American patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) do not respond as well to treatment with interferon (IFN) as white patients. Here we analyzed the difference in the viral kinetic response between genotype 1 HCV‐infected African American patients (n = 19) and white patients (n = 16). Patients were treated with 10 mIU IFN‐α2b daily with or without ribavirin for 1 month followed by 3 mIU IFN‐α2b 3 times a week with ribavirin.

Active immunization against de novo hepatitis B virus infection in pediatric patients after liver transplantation

Seong‐Hwan Chang, Kyung‐Suk Suh, Nam‐Joon Yi, Seok Ho Choi, Hoan Jong Lee, Jeong Kee Seo, Kuhn Uk Lee – 30 December 2003 – The shortage of donor organs occasionally mandates the use of hepatic allografts from anti‐HBc (+) donors. HBIG and/or lamivudine are recommended for the prevention of de novo HBV infection in naive patients, but there are attendant problems, such as mutant strain emergence and high cost. Active immunization presents a better alternative than the use of HBIG or lamivudine, if it can be proven to be effective.

Portal cavernoma‐associated cholangiopathy: A clinical and MR cholangiography coupled with MR portography imaging study

Bertrand Condat, Valérie Vilgrain, Tarik Asselah, Dermot O'Toole, Pierre Rufat, Magali Zappa, Richard Moreau, Dominique Valla – 30 December 2003 – Although biliary symptoms appear to be uncommon in patients with portal cavernoma, almost all of them have endoscopic retrograde cholangiographic abnormalities. The mechanisms underlying the biliary changes are explained poorly.

Inhibition of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein: Another mechanism for drug‐induced steatosis in mice

Philippe Lettéron, Angela Sutton, Abdellah Mansouri, Bernard Fromenty, Dominique Pessayre – 30 December 2003 – Although many steatogenic drugs inhibit mitochondrial fatty acid β‐oxidation, limited information is available on possible effects on hepatic lipoprotein secretion.

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