Mark J. Czaja – 30 December 2003 – Hepatoprotection mediated by free radical scavenging molecules such as dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO) arose the question as to whether this effect involved one or several anti‐apoptotic signals. Here, using primary cultures of rat hepatocytes and in vivo thioacetamide‐induced liver failure, we showed that Me2SO failed to prevent any cleavage of initiator caspase‐8 and ‐9 but constantly inhibited procaspase‐3 maturation and apoptosis execution, pointing to an efficient inhibition of cleaved initiator caspase activities.

Madhusudhan R. Sanaka, Janus P. Ong, Kevin D. Mullen – 30 December 2003 – Background/Aims: The efficacy and safety of rifaximin in comparison with lactitol in the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy was assessed in a prospective randomized, double‐blind, double‐dummy, controlled trial. Methods: A total of 103 patients with grade I‐III acute hepatic encephalopathy were randomized to receive rifaximin (50 patients, 1200 mg/day) or lactitol (53 patients, 60 g/day) for 5‐10 days.

30 December 2003

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.

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.

Anna E. Gergely, Patricia Lafarge, Isabelle Fouchard‐Hubert, Françoise Lunel‐Fabiani – 30 December 2003

Luigi Bolondi – 30 December 2003

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.

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.

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.