Wen‐Chau Wu, Hsiao‐Wen Chung, Hsiao‐Jen Chung – 30 December 2003

Josep M. Llovet, Jordi Bruix – 30 December 2003 – There is no standard treatment for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Survival benefits derived from medical interventions are controversial. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the evidence of the impact of medical treatments on survival. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that were published as full papers assessing survival for primary treatments of HCC were included. MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, CANCERLIT, and a manual search from 1978 to May 2002 were used.

Byung‐Min Choi, Hyun‐ock Pae, Young‐Myeong Kim, Hun‐Taeg Chung – 30 December 2003 – Heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) is the rate‐limiting enzyme in heme catabolism, which leads to the generation of carbon monoxide (CO), biliverdin, and free iron. One of 3 mammalian HO isoforms, HO‐1, is a stress‐responsive protein and known to modulate such cellular functions as cytokine production, cell proliferation, and apoptosis to protect organs and tissues from acute injury.

José Castellote, Carmen López, Joan Gornals, Gemma Tremosa, Eva Rodríguez Fariña, Carmen Baliellas, Alicia Domingo, Xavier Xiol – 30 December 2003 – We studied the use of reagent strips for diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in cirrhotic patients with ascites. A reagent strip for leukocyte esterase designed for the testing of urine with a colorimetric 5‐grade scale (0 to 4) was used to evaluate ascitic fluid in 228 nonselected paracentesis performed in 128 cirrhotic patients.

Keyur Patel, Andrew J. Muir, John G. McHutchison – 30 December 2003

Harald Hofer, Peter Ferenci – 30 December 2003

Daniel Rost, Thomas Herrmann, Peter Sauer, Hans‐Ludwig Schmidts, Bruno Stieger, Peter J. Meier, Wolfgang Stremmel, Adolf Stiehl – 30 December 2003 – Hepatic uptake of organic anions, including bile salts, is mediated by members of the organic anion‐transporting polypeptide (Oatp) family. In rat liver, Oatp1 (Slc21a1), Oatp2 (Slc21a5), and Oatp4 (Slca10) are expressed at the basolateral membrane of hepatocytes and may be differentially regulated under pathophysiologic conditions such as cholestasis.

Jay H. Hoofnagle, Marc G. Ghany, David E. Kleiner, Edward Doo, Theo Heller, Kittichai Promrat, Janus Ong, Farooq Khokhar, Alejandro Soza, David Herion, Yoon Park, James E. Everhart, T.

Konrad L. Streetz, Frank Tacke, Ludger Leifeld, Torsten Wüstefeld, Andrea Graw, Christian Klein, Kenjii Kamino, Ulrich Spengler, Hans Kreipe, Stefan Kubicka, Werner Müller, Michael P. Manns, Christian Trautwein – 30 December 2003 – The contribution of the acute phase inducer interleukin 6 (IL‐6) in the pathogenesis of liver diseases is yet unclear. Our analysis showed enhanced expression of IL‐6 in livers derived from patients with acute and chronic liver diseases.

Gilles Pomier‐Layrargues, Sarto C. Paquin, Ziad Hassoun, Michel Lafortune, Albert Tran – 30 December 2003 – The hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is related to vasoconstriction of the renal cortex induced by systemic hypovolemia that follows splanchnic vasodilatation as the primary event in the cascade of hemodynamic changes associated with portal hypertension. We evaluated the effects of octreotide, a splanchnic vasoconstrictor, on HRS in cirrhotic patients.