M Guido, M Rugge, G Leandro, I M Fiel, S N Thung – 30 December 2003 – Patients with chronic viral hepatitis are at high risk of developing cirrhosis, but the outcome of the disease in a given patient is unpredictable. Hepatic stellate cells have been demonstrated to be the most important cell type involved in hepatic fibrogenesis, regardless of the cause of the liver injury. The α isotype of actin (a phenotypic marker of smooth muscle cells) may be expressed by hepatic stellate cells, reflecting their “activation” to myofibroblast‐like cells.

H Yeh, C D Schteingart, L R Hagey, H Ton‐Nu, U Bolder, M A Gavrilkina, J H Steinbach, A F Hofmann – 30 December 2003 – To assess the effect of side chain length on the metabolism and physiological effects of homologues of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), dinorCDCA, the C22 homologue, was synthesized and its hepatic biotransformation, transport kinetics, and choleretic properties were defined in rat and hamster biliary fistula and in isolated perfused rat liver. Results were compared with those of norCDCA, the C23 homologue, and of CDCA, the natural C24 homologue.

F Nakazawa, M Sawa, B Jiang, K Onodera, S Kasai, M Mito – 30 December 2003 – The functional ability of hepatic stimulatory substance (HSS)‐stimulated proliferating hepatocytes was investigated by intrasplenic and/or intraportal transplantation in ascorbic acid (AsA) biosynthetic enzyme‐deficient (ODS‐od/od) rats that die of osteogenic disorders unless there is AsA supplementation. HSS was extracted from regenerating porcine livers.

F Cassani, M Cataleta, P Valentini, P Muratori, F Giostra, R Francesconi, L Muratori, M Lenzi, G Bianchi, D Zauli, F B Bianchi – 30 December 2003 – Antibodies to nuclei (ANA), smooth muscle (SMA), and liver/kidney microsomes type 1 (anti‐LKM1) may occur in chronic hepatitis C. Distinct subspecificities, including ANA with the homogeneous pattern (ANA‐H) and SMA with antiactin specificity (SMA‐AA), are found in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH).

Y Ichiki, S Shimoda, H Hara, H Shigematsu, M Nakamura, K Hayashida, H Ishibashi, Y Niho – 30 December 2003 – T‐cell‐mediated autoimmune mechanisms are considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). In the previous study, we identified the immunodominant T‐cell epitope on the E2 component of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC‐E2) in patients with PBC who have HLA‐DRB4*0101.

J R Craig – 30 December 2003

Jean‐Pierre Zarski, Marianne Maynard‐Muet, Suzanne Chousterman, Maryline Baud, Raphaëlle Barnoud, Armand Abergel, Yannick Bacq, Jean‐Marc Combis, Xavier Causse, Albert Tran, Frédéric Oberti, Anne Minello, Solange Bresson‐Hadni, François Bailly, Jean‐Jacques Raabe, Vincent Leroy, Lynda Hamici, Tariq Hicham, Marie‐France St Marc Girardin – 30 December 2003 – The purpose of this study is to compare a combination of interferon (IFN)‐α2 a (Roferon) + Tenoxicam with IFN‐α2 a alone in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

Mirjam M. P. Zegers, Kristien J. M. Zaal, Dick Hoekstra – 30 December 2003 – A photoreactive sphingolipid precursor was used to investigate the potential involvement of protein‐lipid interactions that may convey specificity to sphingolipid transport in the human hepatoma cell line, HepG2. A 125I‐labeled, photoreactive ceramide, 125I‐N3 ‐Cer, was incubated with the cells and became incorporated into two sphingolipid products.

Hervé Zylberberg, Stanislas Pol, Bertrand Nalpas, Christian Bréchot, Pierre Berthelot – 30 December 2003

John Goulis, Anastasios Armonis, David Patch, Caroline Sabin, Lynda Greenslade, Andrew K. Burroughs – 30 December 2003 – Bacterial infection is frequently diagnosed in cirrhotic patients with variceal hemorrhage. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of failure to control bleeding in cirrhotic patients during the first 5 days after the episode of variceal bleeding in relation to the diagnosis of bacterial infection and use of antibiotics. One hundred seventy‐seven consecutive admissions for gastrointestinal bleeding in 151 patients were evaluated prospectively.