Liam J. Fanning, John Levis, Elizabeth Kenny‐Walsh, Michael Whelton, Kathleen O'Sullivan, Fergus Shanahan – 30 December 2003 – The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II genes and the natural fluctuations in hepatitis C viral load in a homogeneous patient population. The study group consisted of 57 viremic (hepatitis C virus [HCV] 1b) women for whom HLA class II DRB1 and DQB1 haplotyping, virologic, histologic, and biochemical markers of disease activity were available.

Carmen Peralta, Leticia Fernández, Julià Panés, Neus Prats, Miquel Sans, Josep Maria Piqué, Emilio Gelpí, Joan Roselló‐Catafau – 30 December 2003 – Previous studies indicate that ischemic preconditioning protects against lung injury resulting from hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion (I/R) through inhibition of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) release from Kupffer cells. The present study investigated whether this effect is limited to the lung or is a generalized systemic response and explores the molecular mechanisms involved.

Enrique Lara‐Pezzi, Juan M. Serrador, María C. Montoya, David Zamora, María Yáñez‐Mó, Marta Carretero, Heinz Furthmayr, Francisco Sánchez‐Madrid, Manuel López‐Cabrera – 30 December 2003 – The hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been involved in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its possible contribution to the metastatic spreading of liver tumors has not been explored so far.

James L. Boyer – 30 December 2003

James L. Boyer – 30 December 2003

Jacquelyn Maher – 30 December 2003

James L. Boyer – 30 December 2003

Xavier Forns, Paul J. Payette, Xiaoying Ma, William Satterfield, Gerald Eder, Isa K. Mushahwar, Sugantha Govindarajan, Heather L. Davis, Suzanne U. Emerson, Robert H. Purcell, Jens Bukh – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Development of vaccines to prevent HCV infection, or at least prevent progression to chronicity, is a major goal. In mice and rhesus macaques, a DNA vaccine encoding cell‐surface HCV–envelope 2 (E2) glycoprotein stimulated stronger immune responses than a vaccine encoding intracellular E2.

Erica Villa, Anna Moles, Ilva Ferretti, Paola Buttafoco, Antonella Grottola, Mariagrazia Del Buono, Mario De Santis, Federico Manenti – 30 December 2003 – Clinical course in hepatocellular carcinoma may be very different. We prospectively evaluated 96 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma unsuitable for radical therapy to investigate factors that could influence survival. Clinical, pathologic, and molecular data of patients were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis. The overall actuarial probability of survival at year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 was 72%, 41%, 38%, 24%, 20%, and 9%.

Kenji Ikeda, Yasuji Arase, Satoshi Saitoh, Masahiro Kobayashi, Yoshiyuki Suzuki, Fumitaka Suzuki, Akihito Tsubota, Kazuaki Chayama, Naoya Murashima, Hiromitsu Kumada – 30 December 2003 – Because hepatocellular carcinoma often recurs after surgical resection or ethanol injection therapy, we conducted a prospective randomized controlled trial of interferon (IFN) in patients with chronic liver disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV).