Tomonobu Gion, Akinobu Taketomi, Mitsuo Shimada, Ken Shirabe, Hirofumi Hasegawa, Kenji Takenaka, Keizo Sugimachi – 30 December 2003 – A quantitative assay of albumin messenger RNA (mRNA) in blood samples was designed using the competitive reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction, and the significance of measuring albumin mRNA levels in the blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in hepatic resection was evaluated.

Fujio Matsumura, Yasuo Yamaguchi, Mataro Goto, Osamu Ichiguchi, Eiji Akizuki, Teishi Matsuda, Kazutoshi Okabe, Jian Liang, Hajime Ohshiro, Takeshi Iwamoto, Shinwa Yamada, Katsutaka Mori, Michio Ogawa – 30 December 2003 – We investigated the effects of the xanthine oxidase inhibitor, BOF‐4272, on the production of cytokine‐induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC) following reperfusion injury in rat liver. Ischemia was induced for 30 minutes by portal vein occlusion.

Timo M. Buetler – 30 December 2003 – Because acute infection and inflammation affect drug metabolism and drug‐metabolizing enzymes, the effect of the acute‐phase response on the expression of glutathione S‐transferase (GST) isoenzymes, glutathione synthesis, and several antioxidant enzymes was investigated. Hepatic expression of GST isozymes, positive and negative acute‐phase reactants, and antioxidant enzymes were determined by Northern blotting and hybridization with gene‐specific oligonucleotide probes after lipopolysaccharide treatment of rats.

Xiao‐Zhong Guo, Helmut Friess, Fabio F. Di Mola, Jean‐Marc Heinicke, Mohamed Abou‐Shady, Hans U. Graber, Hans U. Baer, Arthur Zimmermann, Murray Korc, Markus W. Büchler – 30 December 2003 – Down‐regulation of KAI1 expression has been shown to be associated with formation of metastases or disease progression in prostate and pancreatic cancer.

Jeanne LaBerge, Vickie A. Feldstein – 30 December 2003

Paresh N. Soni, David Brown, Roggieh Saffie, Kay Savage, Duncan Moore, Gregory Gregoriadis, Geoffrey M. Dusheiko – 30 December 2003 – This study investigated the feasibility of using liposomes to increase the hepatic delivery and antiviral efficacy of phosphorothioate antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (PS‐ODN) for the in vivo treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Ducks infected with duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) were used as the model.

Daryl T. Lau, David E. Kleiner, Marc G. Ghany, Yoon Park, Peter Schmid, Jay H. Hoofnagle – 30 December 2003 – Sustained responses to interferon‐α occur in 10% to 25% of patients with chronic hepatitis C, but the long‐term outcome is not well defined. We evaluated the long‐term clinical, histological, and virological outcomes of 10 patients with chronic hepatitis C who were treated between 1984 and 1987 with interferon‐α‐2b for 52 ± 6 weeks (total doses of 492 ± 116 MU).

Koji Ishii, Domenico Rosa, Yushiro Watanabe, Tohru Katayama, Hideharu Harada, Colby Wyatt, Kendo Kiyosawa, Hideki Aizaki, Yoshiharu Matsuura, Michael Houghton, Sergio Abrignani, Tatsuo Miyamura – 30 December 2003 – Most cases of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection result in chronic disease; however, a very small fraction of patients naturally clear the virus and resolve chronic hepatitis. In an attempt to correlate immune response with chronic disease resolution, we compared the antibody response in patients with different outcomes of the infection.

Marco Arrese, Michael Trauner, Robert J. Sacchiero, Michael W. Crossman, Benjamin L. Shneider – 30 December 2003 – The regulatory responses of bile acid (BA) transport in the terminal ileum to perturbations in BA homeostasis are complex, and conflicting results have been reported by different investigators. These studies were designed to examine the response of this system to a reduction in ileal bile salt concentrations at both a functional and molecular level.

Thierry Chinet, Laura Fouassier, Nathalie Dray‐Charier, Mama Imam‐Ghali, Hugues Morel, Martine Mergey, Bertrand Dousset, Rolland Parc, Annick Paul, Chantal Housset – 30 December 2003 – Fluid and ion transport across biliary epithelium contributes to bile flow. Alterations of this function may explain hepatobiliary complications in cystic fibrosis (CF). We investigated electrogenic anion transport across intact non‐CF and CF human gallbladder mucosa in Ussing‐type chambers.