Shinji Tomida, Masato Abei, Takashi Yamaguchi, Yasushi Matsuzaki, Junichi Shoda, Naomi Tanaka, Toshiaki Osuga – 30 December 2003 – Whether ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) therapy alters the long‐term clinical course of gallstones (GS) without stone dissolution remains unknown. We aimed to clarify the relationship between long‐term UDCA therapy and risks of biliary pain or acute cholecystitis in GS patients. We also aimed to identify factors affecting the natural course, and to explore a simple patient selection criteria for UDCA therapy.

Ronald L. Koretz – 30 December 2003

Ulrich Baumann, Heather A. Crosby, Pramila Ramani, Deirdre A. Kelly, Alastair J. Strain – 30 December 2003 – The stem cell factor (SCF)/c‐kit ligand/receptor system has been implicated in stem (oval) cell activation following liver injury in the rat. The aim of this study was to determine the role of the SCF/c‐kit system in pediatric human liver during acute and chronic liver injury. Tissue was obtained from hepatectomy specimens of patients undergoing liver transplantation for extrahepatic biliary atresia (EHBA) and fulminant hepatic failure (FHF).

Mark G. Clemens – 30 December 2003

M. Nieves Görbig, Pere Ginès, Ramón Bataller, Josep M. Nicolás, Eva Garcia‐Ramallo, Ester Tobías, Esther Titos, María Jes Rey, Joan Clària, Vicente Arroyo, Juan Rodés – 30 December 2003 – Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) participate in the regulation of hepatic microcirculation and have receptors for many vasoconstrictor factors. It is unknown whether HSCs have receptors for circulating vasodilators such as atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). This study investigated the presence of ANP receptors in human HSCs and whether ANP antagonizes the effects of endothelin‐1 in these cells.

W. Ray Kim, Russell H. Wiesner, John J. Poterucha, Terry M. Therneau, Michael Malinchoc, Joanne T. Benson, Jeffrey S. Crippin, Goran B. Klintmalm, Jorge Rakela, Thomas E. Starzl, Ruud A. Krom, Roger W. Evans, E. Rolland Dickson – 30 December 2003 – The aim of our study was to quantitatively assess the impact of hepatic retransplantation on patient and graft survival and resource utilization. We studied patients undergoing hepatic retransplantation among 447 transplant recipients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) at 3 transplantation centers.

Daryl T. Lau, Edward Doo, Yoon Park, David E. Kleiner, Peter Schmid, Mary C. Kuhns, Jay H. Hoofnagle – 30 December 2003 – Chronic delta hepatitis is a severe form of chronic liver disease caused by hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection superimposed on chronic hepatitis B or the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier state. Therapy of delta hepatitis is currently unsatisfactory. We have evaluated lamivudine (3‐thiacytidine), an oral nucleoside analogue with marked effects against hepatitis B, as therapy in 5 patients with chronic hepatitis D.

Càndid Villanueva, Jordi Ortiz, Miriam Sàbat, Adolfo Gallego, Xavier Torras, German Soriano, Sergio Sáinz, Jaume Boadas, Xavier Cussó, Carlos Guarner, Joaquim Balanzó – 30 December 2003 – Recent trials have shown that somatostatin (SMT) is as effective as sclerotherapy in the treatment of acute variceal bleeding and that the combination of both treatments is more effective than sclerotherapy alone.

Tushar Patel – 30 December 2003

Akito Sakai, Shuichi Kaneko, Masao Honda, Eiki Matsushita, Kenichi Kobayashi – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been known to infect hosts as a quasispecies. Several reports have shown this using serum samples, but there is little information about quasispecies in the liver. In this study, we evaluated quasispecies in serum and in 3 different parts of the liver in 8 patients with varying severity of chronic hepatitis C by calculating nucleotide diversity, entropy, type of substitution and by phylogenetic analysis.