Martina Sterneck, Tatjana Kalinina, Stephan Günther, Lutz Fischer, Teresa Santantonio, Heiner Greten, Hans Will – 30 December 2003 – Two previous case reports suggest that hepatitis B virus (HBV) core promoter variants with a high replication competence contribute to the pathogenesis of fulminant hepatitis B (FHB). We recently found in HBV genomes from patients with FHB an accumulation of mutations within the core promoter region. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the phenotype of these HBV variants.

Anne T. Nies, Tobias Cantz, Manuela Brom, Inka Leier, Dietrich Keppler – 30 December 2003 – The polarized rat hepatoma/human fibroblast hybrid cell line, WIF‐B, forms apical vacuoles into which cholephilic substances are secreted. We studied expression, localization, and function of the apical conjugate export pump, Mrp2, in WIF‐B cells.

Wilhelm Nolte, Jens Wiltfang, Christian Schindler, Hans Münke, Knut Unterberg, Uta Zumhasch, Hans R. Figulla, Gerald Werner, Heinz Hartmann, Giuliano Ramadori – 30 December 2003 – A prospective study of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) including neuropsychiatric and psychometric evaluation, electroencephalography, and determination of arterial ammonia levels was performed in 55 cirrhotic patients treated consecutively by transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS).

Stephen D. Turley, Margrit Schwarz, David K. Spady, John M. Dietschy – 30 December 2003 – These studies were undertaken to determine whether in young adult outbred CD‐1 mice there were any gender‐related differences in basal bile acid metabolism that might be important in determining how males and females in this species responded to a dietary cholesterol challenge. When fed a plain cereal‐based rodent diet without added cholesterol, 3‐month‐old females, compared with age‐matched males, manifested a significantly larger bile acid pool (89.1 vs.

Ivo W. Graziadei, Jacob J. Joseph, Russell H. Wiesner, Terry M. Therneau, Kenneth P. Batts, Michael K. Porayko – 30 December 2003 – Controversy exists whether patients who are genetically heterozygous for α1 ‐antitrypsin deficiency (α1 ATD), carrying a single PI*Z allele, are at increased risk of developing chronic liver disease. In these investigations, we determined the prevalence of heterozygous α1 AT phenotypes (PI MZ, PI SZ) in a well‐characterized cohort of patients presenting with chronic liver failure before orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).

Juan‐Carlos Bandi, Joan Carles García‐Pagán, Angels Escorsell, Erik François, Eduardo Moitinho, Joan Rodés, Jaume Bosch – 30 December 2003 – Physical exercise increases portal pressure (hepatic venous pressure gradient [HVPG]) in patients with cirrhosis. It is unknown if this deleterious effect is associated with changes in gastroesophageal collateral blood flow and if these can be prevented by propranolol administration. The aim of this study was to characterize the effects of propranolol on the splanchnic hemodynamic response to exercise in patients with cirrhosis.

Michael Rugaard Jensen, Valentina M. Factor, Snorri S. Thorgeirsson – 30 December 2003 – Cyclin G1 has been linked to both positive and negative growth regulation. The expression of cyclin G1 is induced by transforming growth factor β1and p53, as well as by multiple mitogenic stimuli in mammalian cells in culture. However, the physiological role of cyclin G1 remains unclear. To examine the cell‐cycle regulation of cyclin G1 in vivo, two models of coordinated cell proliferation induced by partial hepatectomy (PH) in the presence or absence of DNA damage were used.

WenRong Gong, Adali Pecci, Sylke Roth, Birgit Lahme, Miguel Beato, Axel M. Gressner – 30 December 2003 – Cytokine‐driven activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC) in tissue injury and inflammation is a key pathogenetic event in liver fibrogenesis leading to an expanded pool of matrix producing myofibroblasts (MFB) which represent the transformed counterpart of HSC. We hypothesize that expansion of the pool of MFB might also be accomplished by modulation of apoptosis, which plays an opposite and complementary role to mitosis in the cellular homeostasis.

Yasuo Yamaguchi, Nobutomo Miyanari, Osamu Ichiguchi, Eiji Akizuki, Fujio Matsumura, Teishi Matsuda, Kazutoshi Okabe, Jian Liang, Hajime Ohshiro, Katsutaka Mori, Michio Ogawa – 30 December 2003 – It has previously been shown that a single intravenous injection of freshly heparinized donor‐specific blood transfusion (DST) before transplantation significantly prolongs the survival of fully allogeneic ACI (RT1a)‐to‐LEW(RT11) rat hepatic allografts.

Giuseppe Barbaro, Gabriella Di Lorenzo, Maurizio Soldini, Giuseppe Giancaspro, Giorgio Bellomo, Giancarlo Belloni, Benvenuto Grisorio, Mauro Annese, Donato Bacca, Ruggiero Francavilla, Giorgio Barbarini – 30 December 2003 – The rationale for use of benzodiazepine receptor antagonists is based on the so‐called benzodiazepine pathogenetic hypothesis of hepatic encephalopathy (HE).