Benedikt Schaefer, Mattias Mandorfer, André Viveiros, Armin Finkenstedt, Peter Ferenci, Stefan Schneeberger, Herbert Tilg, Heinz Zoller – 23 March 2018 – Alpha‐1‐antitrypsin deficiency (A1ATD) due to homozygosity for the Z allele (ZZ) is an established risk factor for cirrhosis, but the liver disease risk in heterozygous Z allele carriers (MZ) is controversial. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of the MZ genotype among patients with cirrhosis and the associated risk of decompensation and liver transplantation/mortality.

Sanjaya K. Satapathy, Kiran Joglekar, Miklos Z. Molnar, Bilal Ali, Humberto C. Gonzalez, Jason M. Vanatta, James D. Eason, Satheesh P. Nair – 23 March 2018 – The effect of antiviral therapy (AVT) on kidney function in liver transplantation (LT) recipients has not been well described despite known association of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We compared the incidence of CKD and end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) in 204 LT recipients with HCV based on treatment response to AVT.

Cristina B. Guzman, Suman Duvvuru, Anthony Akkari, Pallav Bhatnagar, Chakib Battioui, Wendra Foster, Xiaotian Michelle Zhang, Sudha S. Shankar, Mark A. Deeg, Naga Chalasani, Thomas A. Hardy, Christof M. Kazda, Sreekumar G. Pillai – 23 March 2018 – LY2409021 is a glucagon receptor antagonist that was associated with hepatic steatosis and elevated aminotransferases in phase 2 diabetes studies. We investigated the relationship between selected genetic variants and hepatic steatosis and elevated alanine aminotransferases (ALTs) associated with LY2409021.

Kathy L. de Graaf, Geneviève Lapeyre, Florence Guilhot, Walter Ferlin, Stuart M. Curbishley, Marco Carbone, Paul Richardson, Sulleman Moreea, C. Anne McCune, Stephen D. Ryder, Roger W. Chapman, Annarosa Floreani, David E. Jones, Cristina de Min, David H. Adams, Pietro Invernizzi – 23 March 2018 – NI‐0801 is a fully human monoclonal antibody against chemokine (C‐X‐C motif) ligand 10 (CXCL10), which is involved in the recruitment of inflammatory T cells into the liver. The safety and efficacy of NI‐0801 was assessed in patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

Cyrielle Caussy, Cynthia Hsu, Min‐Tzu Lo, Amy Liu, Ricki Bettencourt, Veeral H. Ajmera, Shirin Bassirian, Jonathan Hooker, Ethan Sy, Lisa Richards, Nicholas Schork, Bernd Schnabl, David A. Brenner, Claude B. Sirlin, Chi‐Hua Chen, Rohit Loomba, Genetics of NAFLD in Twins Consortium – 23 March 2018 – Previous studies have shown that gut‐microbiome is associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We aimed to examine if serum metabolites, especially those derived from the gut‐microbiome, have a shared gene‐effect with hepatic steatosis and fibrosis.

Ruiyao Huang, Zu‐Hua Gao, An Tang, Giada Sebastiani, Marc Deschenes – 23 March 2018

Ruiyao Huang, Zu‐Hua Gao, An Tang, Giada Sebastiani, Marc Deschenes – 23 March 2018

Jorge Guzman‐Lepe, Eduardo Cervantes‐Alvarez, Alexandra Collin de l'Hortet, Yang Wang, Wendy M. Mars, Yoshinao Oda, Yuki Bekki, Masahiro Shimokawa, Huanlin Wang, Tomoharu Yoshizumi, Yoshihiko Maehara, Aaron Bell, Ira J. Fox, Kazuki Takeishi, Alejandro Soto‐Gutierrez – 23 March 2018 – The mechanisms by which the liver fails in end‐stage liver disease remain elusive. Disruption of the transcription factor network in hepatocytes has been suggested to mediate terminal liver failure in animals. However, this hypothesis remains unexplored in human subjects.

Tian Lan, Changzheng Li, Guizhi Yang, Yue Sun, Lihang Zhuang, Yitao Ou, Hui Li, Genshu Wang, Tatiana Kisseleva, David Brenner, Jiao Guo – 23 March 2018 – Chronic liver disease mediated by activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and Kupffer cells (KCs) leads to liver fibrosis. Here, we aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism and define the cell type involved in mediating the sphingosine kinase (SphK)1‐dependent effect on liver fibrosis. The levels of expression and activity of SphK1 were significantly increased in fibrotic livers compared with the normal livers in human.

Zhiqiang Chen, Wen Gao, Liyong Pu, Long Zhang, Guoyong Han, Xueliang Zuo, Yao Zhang, Xiangcheng Li, Hongbing Shen, Jindao Wu, Xuehao Wang – 23 March 2018 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. PRDI‐BF1 and RIZ homology domain containing 8 (PRDM8) is a key regulator in neural development and testis steroidogenesis; however, its role in liver carcinogenesis remains to be investigated. In this study, PRDM8 was found to be down‐regulated in HCC, which was linked with shorter recurrence‐free survival.