Xiao Zhi, Fei Xue, Wei Chen, Chao Liang, Hao Liu, Tao Ma, Xuefeng Xia, Liqiang Hu, Xueli Bai, Tingbo Liang – 7 June 2017 – Despite its rarity (1%‐2%), acute graft‐versus‐host disease after liver transplantation (LT‐aGVHD) has a high mortality rate (85%). A gradual decrease in regulatory T cells (Tregs) correlates with disease progression in a rat LT‐GVHD model, and treatments which increase Tregs exert therapeutic effects on LT‐aGVHD. In this study, LT‐aGVHD model rats were treated with rapamycin (RAPA), OSI‐027, or an equal quantity of vehicle.

Carlos Moctezuma‐Velazquez, Sylvia Kalainy, Juan G. Abraldes – 7 June 2017 – Nonselective beta‐blockers (NSBBs) have been the backbone for the treatment of portal hypertension in cirrhosis for the last 3 decades. A publication in 2010 of a prospective observational study suggested that NSBBs could increase mortality in patients with refractory ascites. This opened a controversy about the safety and efficacy of NSBBs in patients with advanced liver disease and led to the publication of a large corpus of observational data assessing the safety of NSBBs in patients with advanced cirrhosis.

Ping‐Chun Li, Ashok Thorat, Long‐Bin Jeng – 7 June 2017

Erin K. Spengler, Lawrence G. Hunsicker, Sanam Zarei, M. Bridget Zimmerman, Michael D. Voigt – 7 June 2017 – Physicians often exclude patients with a model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD) score ≥ 18 from a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure due to the concern for higher risk of death. We aimed to determine if TIPS increased the risk of death in these patients. We analyzed the interaction between TIPS and MELD in 106 patients with TIPS and 79 with intractable ascites without TIPS.

Elizabeth M. Brunt – 7 June 2017 – Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common underlying causes of chronically elevated liver tests and liver disease in adults and children worldwide and may be strongly suspected if not diagnosed by ever evolving and available serologic and imaging‐based noninvasive tests.

Toru Ikegami, Tomoharu Yoshizumi, Hideaki Uchiyama, Yuji Soejima, Noboru Harada, Yoshihiko Maehara – 7 June 2017

Sebastian Rademacher, Daniel Seehofer, Dennis Eurich, Wenzel Schoening, Ruth Neuhaus, Robert Oellinger, Timm Denecke, Andreas Pascher, Eckart Schott, Mariann Sinn, Peter Neuhaus, Johann Pratschke – 7 June 2017 – De novo malignancies (DNMs) are one of the leading causes of late mortality after liver transplantation (LT). We analyzed 1616 consecutive patients who underwent LT between 1988 and 2006 at our institution. All patients were prospectively observed over a study period of 28 years by our own outpatient clinic.

George Cholankeril, Robert J. Wong, Donghee Kim, Aijaz Ahmed – 6 June 2017

Jasmohan S. Bajaj, Zain Kassam, Andrew Fagan, Edith A. Gavis, Eric Liu, I. Jane Cox, Raffi Kheradman, Douglas Heuman, Jessica Wang, Thomas Gurry, Roger Williams, Masoumeh Sikaroodi, Michael Fuchs, Eric Alm, Binu John, Leroy R. Thacker, Antonio Riva, Mark Smith, Simon D. Taylor‐Robinson, Patrick M Gillevet – 6 June 2017 – Recurrent hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a leading cause of readmission despite standard of care (SOC) associated with microbial dysbiosis. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) may improve dysbiosis; however, it has not been studied in HE.

Zobair M. Younossi, Maria Stepanova, Nila Rafiq, Linda Henry, Rohit Loomba, Hala Makhlouf, Zachary Goodman – 6 June 2017 – Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the progressive form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The minimal pathologic criteria for NASH include hepatic steatosis, ballooning degeneration, and lobular inflammation. The resolution of NASH, which relies on the loss of ballooning degeneration, is subject to sampling and observer variability in pathologic interpretation.