Gennaro D'Amico, Flavia Politi, Alberto Morabito, Adele D'Antoni, Daniela Guerrera, Gandolfo Giannuoli, Mario Traina, Giovanni Vizzini, Linda Pasta, Luigi Pagliaro – 30 December 2003 – β‐Blockers and sclerotherapy prevent long‐term upper digestive rebleeding in cirrhosis but they seem ineffective for early rebleeding. We compared octreotide with a placebo for the prevention of early rebleeding in cirrhotic patients.

Ying‐hua Tian, Chifumi Fukuda, Martin K. Schilling – 30 December 2003 – Intracellular‐type electrolyte solutions were introduced into organ preservation to prevent K+ efflux and Na+ and Cl− influx into cells and cell swelling during cold ischemia. We studied cation accumulation in the interstitial space by microdialysis, during rat liver cold storage and after flush‐out with high‐K+ and low‐K+ solutions.

Nikolaos Arkadopoulos, Helene Lilja, Kyung Suk Suh, Achilles A. Demetriou, Jacek Rozga – 30 December 2003 – To examine whether hepatocytes transplanted in the spleen can function as an ectopic liver, we performed hepatocyte transplantation in rats that were rendered anhepatic. Total hepatectomy was performed by using a novel single‐stage technique. Following hepatectomy, Group 1 rats (n = 16) were monitored until death to determine survival time without prior intervention.

William M. Lee, K. Rajender Reddy, Myron J. Tong, Martin Black, Dirk J. van Leeuwen, F. Blaine Hollinger, Kevin D. Mullen, Neville Pimstone, Donald Albert, Sheila Gardner – 30 December 2003 – In previous studies employing interferons (IFNs) in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, there have been few reliable predictors of sustained responses.

William A. Faubion, Gregory J. Gores – 30 December 2003

Giorgio Senaldi, Christine L. Shaklee, Bernadett Simon, Christopher G. Rowan, David L. Lacey, Thomas Hartung – 30 December 2003 – Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) promotes epithelial growth and differentiation and has potent effects on the liver. The coinjection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and d ‐galactosamine (GalN) results in hepatic failure in mice. Mechanistically, LPS‐induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF) triggers hepatocyte apoptosis, which is enhanced by GalN‐arrested transcription. Similarly, the combination of TNF and actinomycin D (ActD) causes hepatocyte apoptosis in vitro.

Belinda C. Smith, Jane Grove, Muna A. Guzail, Christopher P. Day, Ann K. Daly, Alastair D. Burt, Margaret F. Bassendine – 30 December 2003 – Hepatic iron has been associated with more aggressive liver disease in chronic viral hepatitis. We evaluated whether the recently described C282Y mutation of the hemochromatosis gene, designated HFE (responsible for at least 83% of hereditary hemochromatosis), was associated with more advanced liver disease in chronic hepatitis C.

Fabienne Pessione, Françoise Degos, Patrick Marcellin, Véronique Duchatelle, Corinne Njapoum, Michèle Martinot‐Peignoux, Claude Degott, Dominique Valla, Serge Erlinger, Bernard Rueff – 30 December 2003 – The role of alcohol intake in the occurrence of severe liver disease in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) carriers is still debated. A cross‐sectional study has been conducted in 233 chronic hepatitis C virus carriers.

Shuichi Okada – 30 December 2003

Michelle J. Hooth, Jack L. Vincent, William B. Coleman, Sharon C. Presnell, Joe W. Grisham, Gary J. Smith – 30 December 2003 – The genomic evolution of a cohort of WB‐F344 rat liver epithelial cell lineages undergoing spontaneous neoplastic transformation was followed to define the mechanistic relationship between genomic instability and progression to the neoplastic phenotype.