Olav Dalgard, Kristian Bjøro, Helmer Ring‐Larsen, Einar Bjornsson, Mona Holberg‐Petersen, Eva Skovlund, Olle Reichard, Bjørn Myrvang, Bo Sundelöf, Ståle Ritland, Kjell Hellum, Aril Frydén, Jon Florholmen, Hans Verbaan, North‐C Group – 26 December 2007 – A recent nonrandomized pilot trial showed that hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients with genotype 2/3 and rapid virological response (RVR) had a 90% sustained virological response (SVR) rate after 14 weeks of treatment. We aimed to assess this concept in a randomized controlled trial.

Linda Diehl, Anna Schurich, Regina Grochtmann, Silke Hegenbarth, Lieping Chen, Percy A. Knolle – 26 December 2007 – Liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC) are unique organ‐resident antigen‐presenting cells capable of cross‐presentation and subsequent tolerization of naïve CD8+ T cells. We investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying this tolerance induction in naive CD8+ T cells.

Takashi Hamada, Constantino Fondevila, Ronald W. Busuttil, Ana J. Coito – 26 December 2007 – Leukocyte transmigration across endothelial and extracellular matrix protein barriers is dependent on adhesion and focal matrix degradation events. In the present study we investigated the role of metalloproteinase‐9 (MMP‐9/gelatinase B) in liver ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury using MMP‐9‐deficient (MMP‐9−/−) animals and mice treated with a specific anti‐MMP‐9 neutralizing antibody or with a broad gelatinase inhibitor for both MMP‐9 and metalloproteinase‐2 (MMP‐2/gelatinase A).

Satoshi Kuboki, Thomas Shin, Nadine Huber, Thorsten Eismann, Elizabeth Galloway, Rebecca Schuster, John Blanchard, Basilia Zingarelli, Alex B. Lentsch – 26 December 2007 – The function of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ (PPARγ) in hepatic inflammation and injury is unclear. In this study, we sought to determine the role of PPARγ in hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice. Male mice were subjected to 90 minutes of partial hepatic ischemia followed by up to 8 hours of reperfusion. PPARγ was found to be constitutively activated in hepatocytes but not in nonparenchymal cells.

Tito Livraghi, Franca Meloni, Michele Di Stasi, Emanuela Rolle, Luigi Solbiati, Carmine Tinelli, Sandro Rossi – 26 December 2007 – If liver transplantation is not feasible, partial resection is considered the treatment of choice for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis. However, in some centers the first‐line treatment for small, single, operable HCC is now radiofrequency ablation (RFA). In the current study, 218 patients with single HCC ≤ 2.0 cm (very early or T1 stage) underwent RFA.

Virginie Defamie, Marina Laurens, Damiano Patrono, Laurent Devel, Antoine Brault, Marie‐Christine Saint‐Paul, Athanasios Yiotakis, Pascal Barbry, Jean Gugenheim, Dominique Crenesse, Vincent Dive, Pierre‐Michel Huet, Bernard Mari – 26 December 2007 – Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated in the hepatic injury induced after cold ischemia–warm reperfusion (CI‐WR), by altering the extracellular matrix (ECM), but their precise role remains unknown.

Tom P. Theruvath, Zhi Zhong, Peter Pediaditakis, Venkat K. Ramshesh, Robert T. Currin, Andrey Tikunov, Ekhson Holmuhamedov, John J. Lemasters – 26 December 2007 – Graft failure after liver transplantation may involve mitochondrial dysfunction. We examined whether prevention of mitochondrial injury would improve graft function. Orthotopic rat liver transplantation was performed after 18 hours' cold storage in University of Wisconsin solution and treatment with vehicle, minocycline, tetracycline, or N‐methyl‐4‐isoleucine cyclosporin (NIM811) of explants and recipients.

Gianluca Perseghin, Guido Lattuada, Francesco De Cobelli, Antonio Esposito, Elena Belloni, Georgia Ntali, Francesca Ragogna, Tamara Canu, Paola Scifo, Alessandro Del Maschio, Livio Luzi – 26 December 2007 – Fatty liver is characterized by metabolic abnormalities at the liver, but also at skeletal muscle and adipose tissue sites.

Yuan Zhai, Bo Qiao, Feng Gao, Xiuda Shen, Andrew Vardanian, Ronald W. Busuttil, Jerzy W. Kupiec‐Weglinski – 26 December 2007 – We have documented the key role of toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) activation and its signaling pathway mediated by interferon (IFN) regulatory factor 3, in the induction of inflammation leading to the hepatocellular damage during liver ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). Because type I IFN is the major downstream activation product of that pathway, we studied its role in comparison with IFN‐γ.

Florence Wong, Kevin Moore, Jasper Dingemanse, Rajiv Jalan – 26 December 2007 – Renal vasoconstriction is a key factor in the development of hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) and may be secondary to increased activities of endothelin‐1, a potent renal vasoconstrictor.