Christopher B. O’Brien, Eytan R. Barnea, Paul Martin, Cynthia Levy, Eden Sharabi, Kalyan R. Bhamidimarri, Eric Martin, Leopold Arosemena, Eugene R. Schiff – 26 September 2018 – Preimplantation factor (PIF) is an evolutionary conserved peptide secreted by viable embryos which promotes maternal tolerance without immune suppression. Synthetic PIF (sPIF) replicates native peptide activity. The aim of this study was to conduct the first‐in‐human trial of the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of sPIF in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH).

James A. Heslop, Stephen A. Duncan – 25 September 2018 – The use of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) has transformed the investigation of liver development and disease. Clinical observations and animal models have provided the foundations of our understanding in these fields. While animal models remain essential research tools, long experimental lead times and low throughput limit the scope of investigations.

Sanghoon Lee, Ping Zhou, Anita Gupta, Soona Shin – 25 September 2018 – While reactive ductules (RDs) have been observed in viral hepatitis, biliary atresia, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and adult hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), RDs in pediatric liver cancer remain uncharacterized. This study investigated the relationship of RDs with angiogenic paracrine factors, the extent of angiogenesis, and tumor cell proliferation in pediatric hepatoblastoma (HBL)/HCC livers.

Giovanni Covini, Elena Bredi, Salvatore Badalamenti, Massimo Roncalli, Alessio Aghemo, Massimo Colombo – 25 September 2018 – We report the case of a woman with chronic hepatitis C and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) who developed autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) during antiviral therapy with ledipasvir (LDV)/sofosbuvir (SOF). The onset of acute hepatitis rose two weeks after starting treatment with LDV/SOF when HCV‐RNA tested negative, suggesting a link between rapid HCV clearance and de novo autoimmune diseases.

Takahiro Suda, Tomohide Tatsumi, Akira Nishio, Tadashi Kegasawa, Teppei Yoshioka, Ryoko Yamada, Kunimaro Furuta, Takahiro Kodama, Minoru Shigekawa, Hayato Hikita, Ryotaro Sakamori, Takasuke Fukuhara, Yoshiharu Matsuura, Tetsuo Takehara – 25 September 2018 – Natural killer cells (NK cells) play an essential role in the immunological mechanism underlying chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Impairment of NK cell function facilitates persistent infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

James A. Heslop, Stephen A. Duncan – 25 September 2018 – The use of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) has transformed the investigation of liver development and disease. Clinical observations and animal models have provided the foundations of our understanding in these fields. While animal models remain essential research tools, long experimental lead times and low throughput limit the scope of investigations.

Shi‐ying Cai, James L. Boyer – 25 September 2018

Alphonse E. Sirica, Gregory J. Gores, John D. Groopman, Florin M. Selaru, Mario Strazzabosco, Xin Wei Wang, Andrew X. Zhu – 25 September 2018 – Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) has over the last 10‐20 years become the focus of increasing concern, largely due to its rising incidence and high mortality rates worldwide.

David Goldberg, Raymond Lynch – 25 September 2018

Hannes Hagström, Jonas Höijer, Hanns‐Ulrich Marschall, Catherine Williamson, Michael A. Heneghan, Rachel H. Westbrook, Jonas F. Ludvigsson, Olof Stephansson – 25 September 2018 – There are limited data on pregnancy outcomes in women with cirrhosis. To address this gap, we examined the records of singleton births from Sweden’s National Patient Register (NPR), Cause of Death Register (CDR), and Medical Birth Register (MBR) between 1997 and 2011 to assess exposure and pregnancy‐related and liver‐related outcomes of pregnant women with cirrhosis.