Lieven J. Stuyver, Stephen A. Locarnini, Anna Lok, Douglas D. Richman, William F. Carman, Jules L. Dienstag, Raymond F. Schinazi – 30 December 2003 – There is currently no universally accepted numbering convention for the antiviral drug‐related resistance mutations in the reverse transcriptase (rt) domain of the human hepatitis B virus (HBV) polymerase. The published inconsistencies have resulted from different HBV genotypes. A standardized numbering system for HBV polymerase is proposed.

K. Rajender Reddy, Teresa L. Wright, Paul J. Pockros, Mitchell Shiffman, Gregory Everson, Robert Reindollar, Michael W. Fried, Preston P. Purdum, Donald Jensen, Coleman Smith, William M. Lee, Thomas D. Boyer, Amy Lin, Simon Pedder, Jean DePamphilis – 30 December 2003 – Administration of interferon (IFN) 3 times weekly in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is associated with low sustained responses, which may be, in part, related to this regimen's inability to maintain IFN concentrations sufficient to suppress viral replication.

Nobuya Makino, Makoto Suematsu, Yoshiaki Sugiura, Hiroyasu Morikawa, Susumu Shiomi, Nobuhito Goda, Tsuyoshi Sano, Yuji Nimura, Keizo Sugimachi, Yuzuru Ishimura – 30 December 2003 – This study was designed to determine changes in expression of heme oxygenase (HO)‐1, the stress‐inducible and carbon monoxide–producing enzyme, in normotensive and portal hypertensive human livers. GTS‐1, a monoclonal antibody against rat HO‐1 cross‐reacted with the human HO‐1 and blocked its enzyme activity, allowing us to examine the activity and localization of HO‐1.

Neil Kaplowitz – 30 December 2003

James L. Boyer – 30 December 2003

Victor Wu – 30 December 2003

James L. Boyer – 30 December 2003

Raymundo Paraná, Liana Codes, Zilton drade – 30 December 2003

Geetha M. Habib, Zheng‐zheng Shi, Ching‐nan Ou, Geeta Kala, Subbarao V. Kala, Michael W. Lieberman – 30 December 2003 – We used mice deficient in γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) to analyze the effects of GGT deficiency and altered thiol levels on gene expression in liver. GGT‐deficient mice have markedly reduced levels of glutathione (GSH), cysteine, methionine, and cysteinylglycine in liver.

Alison J. Rodger, Stuart Roberts, Anna Lanigan, Scott Bowden, Tracy Brown, Nick Crofts – 30 December 2003 – The aim of this study was to examine the long‐term effects of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on a cohort of patients admitted with acute viral hepatitis from 1971 through 1975. The availability of stored sera from this time enabled testing to identify those who were anti‐HCV–positive on admission. Sixteen percent (n = 238) of the cohort tested anti‐HCV–positive. The unexposed group was selected from those who were anti‐HCV–negative.