Constance E. Ruhl, James E. Everhart – 30 December 2003 – Obesity increases the risk of gallstones, especially in women. Most gallbladder disease studies have used body mass index (BMI) as a measure of overall adiposity, although BMI does not distinguish between fat and lean body mass. Central adiposity may also increase gallstone risk, although this is less well studied. Leptin is a peptide whose serum concentration is highly correlated with total body fat mass.

Preeti R. John, Paul J. Thuluvath – 30 December 2003 – The influence of preexisting diabetes mellitus (DM) on outcome after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has not been well defined. The objective of our study was to compare the morbidity and mortality after OLT in 57 patients with preexisting DM (3 type I, 54 type II) with 114 age‐, sex‐, and race‐matched patients without DM (case controls). The demographics were similar in both groups. Pretransplantation serum creatinine was significantly higher in the diabetic group compared with case controls.

Sarbjit S. Nijjar, Heather A. Crosby, Lorraine Wallace, Stefan G. Hubscher, Alastair J. Strain – 30 December 2003 – Notch signaling is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism, used to regulate cell fate decisions. Four Notch receptors have been identified in man (Notch‐1 to ‐4). In this study, semiquantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and immunohistochemistry were used to examine the expression pattern of Notch receptor genes in whole adult human liver and isolated liver cell preparations.

Adrian Reuben – 30 December 2003

Andres T. Blei – 30 December 2003

Xavier Aldeguer, Fotini Debonera, Abraham Shaked, Alyssa M. Krasinkas, Andrew E. Gelman, Xingyi Que, Gideon A. Zamir, Shungo Hiroyasu, Kellen K. Kovalovich, Rebecca Taub, Kim M. Olthoff – 30 December 2003 – Interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) is required for normal liver regeneration, but the specific cellular source of this growth factor is unknown. We investigated whether this signal originates from the resident macrophage, the Kupffer cell.

Maura Dandri, Martin R. Burda, Alexander Bürkle, David M. Zuckerman, Hans Will, Charles E. Rogler, Heimer Greten, Joerg Petersen – 30 December 2003 – Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is associated with an increased risk for the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although clonal HBV DNA integrations are detected in nearly all HCCs the role of these integrations in hepatocarcinogenesis is poorly understood. We have used a cloning protocol that allows studying the frequency and the natural history of HBV DNA integrations in cell culture.

Antonia Perelló, Juan Carlos García‐Pagán, Rosa Gilabert, Yanette Suárez, Eduardo Moitinho, Francisco Cervantes, Juan Carlos Reverter, Angels Escorsell, Jaume Bosch, Juan Rodés – 30 December 2003 – Patients with Budd‐Chiari syndrome (BCS) may require treatment with portal decompressive surgery or liver transplantation. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) represents a new treatment alternative, but its long‐term effect on BCS outcome has not been evaluated. Twenty‐one patients with BCS consecutively admitted to our unit were evaluated. The mean follow‐up was 4 ± 3 years.

Eduardo Ansorena, Elena R. García‐Trevijano, Maria L. Martínez‐Chantar, Zong‐Zhi Huang, Lixin Chen, José M. Mato, Maria Iraburu, Shelly C. Lu, Matías A. Avila – 30 December 2003 – S‐adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) is an essential compound in cellular transmethylation reactions and a precursor of polyamine and glutathione synthesis in the liver. In liver injury, the synthesis of AdoMet is impaired and its availability limited. AdoMet administration attenuates experimental liver damage, improves survival of alcoholic patients with cirrhosis, and prevents experimental hepatocarcinogenesis.

Ákos Zsembery, Wolfgang Jessner, Gerlinde Sitter, Carlo Spirlí, Mario Strazzabosco, Jürg Graf – 30 December 2003 – In view of the occurrence of hepatobiliary disorders in cystic fibrosis (CF) this study addresses the role of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and of Ca2+‐activated Cl− channels in promoting HCO secretion in bile ductular cells. Human cholangiocytes were isolated from control livers and from 1 patient with CF (ΔF508/G542X mutations).