Giorgio E. Gerunda, Roberto Merenda, Daniele Neri, Paolo Angeli, Franco Barbazza, Michele Valmasoni, Paolo Feltracco, Fabio Zangrandi, Antonio Gangemi, Diego Miotto, Alessandro Gagliesi, Alvise Maffei Faccioli – 30 December 2003 – Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) may be feasible even in the presence of diffuse portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in the recipient, providing hepatopetal portal flow to the graft can be ensured. Cavoportal hemitransposition was used in selected cases in which no other salvage solutions were technically possible.

Russell H. Wiesner, Ruud A.F. Krom – 30 December 2003

G Missale, E Cariani, V Lamonaca, A Ravaggi, A Rossini, R Bertoni, M Houghton, Y Matsuura, T Miyamura, F Fiaccadori, C Ferrari – 30 December 2003 – The viral genotype may influence the response to interferon (IFN) treatment in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. To characterize potential mechanisms responsible for this effect, we assessed whether IFN modulation of HCV‐specific T‐cell responses differs in patients infected by different genotypes.

T Heintges, J R Wands – 30 December 2003

Q Xu, M Mantle, J G Pauletzki, E A Shaffer – 30 December 2003 – Although gallbladder stasis exists in most patients with cholesterol gallstones, it is unknown whether stasis is a causative factor of gallstone disease or merely a consequence of it. We studied the impact of sustained gallbladder stasis induced by a cholecystokinin (CCK)‐A receptor antagonist (MK‐329) on gallstone formation in ground squirrels fed either a trace or a high‐cholesterol diet. MK‐329 markedly inhibited gallbladder contraction in vitro in response to CCK (at EC100, control: 3.6 ± 0.5 vs.

S Norris, M Lawler, S McCann, J Hegarty, C O'Farrelly – 30 December 2003 – Donor‐type microchimerism, the presence of a minority population of donor‐derived haematopoietic cells following solid organ transplantation, has been postulated as a mechanism for induction of donor‐specific graft tolerance. The stability, frequency, and relevance of microchimerism with respect to long‐term outcome, however, remains uncertain.

R P Woitas, J Heller, B Stoffel‐Wagner, U Spengler, T Sauerbruch – 30 December 2003 – To investigate the role of nitric oxide (NO) with respect to kidney function and liver cirrhosis, we evaluated renal function, as well as cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and NOx (nitrite/nitrate [NO3− /NO2−]) as indirect markers of NO formation in plasma and urine at rest and during amino acid (aa)‐induced glomerular hyperfiltration in patients with Child A liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension (n = 12), and in healthy controls (n = 10).

A G Upadhya, R P Harvey, T K Howard, J A Lowell, S Shenoy, S M Strasberg – 30 December 2003 – Previous studies have determined that proteases are important in cold preservation injury to the liver. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in cold preservation injury. Effluents were collected from rat livers after various periods of preservation either in Eurocollins solution or in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution. Effluents were also collected from 17 human donor livers stored in UW solution.

C M Schmidt, I H McKillop, P A Cahill, J V Sitzmann – 30 December 2003 – Alterations in the expression and activity of guanine nucleotide regulatory proteins (G proteins) have been linked to the growth of several human tumors. We hypothesized that the expression and activity of G proteins are altered in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The expression of Gi and Gs proteins was determined in six human tumors and six normal controls (adjacent nonneoplastic liver) by Western blotting using specific antisera raised against the α subunit of G proteins Gi1, Gi1‐2, Gi3, and Gs.

F Holzinger, C D Schteingart, H Ton‐Nu, S A Eming, M J Monte, L R Hagey, A F Hofmann – 30 December 2003 – Studies were performed to characterize hepatic and intestinal transport, as well as biotransformation during transport, of a spectrum of fluorescent bile acids containing a fluorophore attached to the side chain.