Annette Martin, Stanley M. Lemon – 30 January 2006 – Hepatitis A virus (HAV), the causative agent of type A viral hepatitis, is an ancient human virus that was first identified almost 35 years ago. It has several characteristics that make it unique among the Picornaviridae, particularly in terms of its mechanisms of polyprotein processing and virion morphogenesis, and which likely contribute to its pathobiology.

Elwyn Elias – 30 January 2006

Geoffrey C. Farrell, Claire Z. Larter – 30 January 2006 – Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the lynchpin between steatosis and cirrhosis in the spectrum of nonalcoholic fatty liver disorders (NAFLD), was barely recognized in 1981. NAFLD is now present in 17% to 33% of Americans, has a worldwide distribution, and parallels the frequency of central adiposity, obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. NASH could be present in one third of NAFLD cases.

Bijan Eghtesad, Charles M. Miller – 30 January 2006

Scott L. Friedman, Meena B. Bansal – 30 January 2006 – The prospect of reversing hepatic fibrosis has generated great interest now that basic science advances are being translated into promising new antifibrotic therapies. It is appropriate to recognize both the historical advances that created the framework for these successes, and the important role that Hepatology has played in disseminating them. A sense of urgency underlies this effort as the epidemics of HCV and NASH are becoming associated with advancing fibrosis.

Irwin M. Arias – 30 January 2006

Snorri S. Thorgeirsson, Ju‐Seog Lee, Joe W. Grisham – 30 January 2006 – The majority of DNA‐microarray based gene expression profiling studies on human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has focused on identifying genes associated with clinicopathological features of HCC patients. Although notable success has been achieved, this approach still faces significant challenges due to the heterogeneous nature of HCC (and other cancers) as well as the many confounding factors embedded in gene expression profile data.

François Durand, Jacques Belghiti, Roberto Troisi, Olivier Boillot, Adrian Gadano, Claire Francoz, Bernard de Hemptinne, Alain Mallet, Dominique Valla, Jean Louis Golmard – 30 January 2006 – Living donors represent a recognized alternative for facilitating the access to transplantation in a period of organ shortage. However, which candidates should be preferentially considered for living‐donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is debated. The aim of this study was to create statistical models to determine which strategies of selection for LDLT provide the most efficient contribution.

Marina Laurens, Gitana Scozzari, Damiano Patrono, Marie‐Christine St‐Paul, Jean Gugenheim, Pierre‐Michel Huet, Dominique Crenesse – 30 January 2006 – Ischemia‐reperfusion (I‐R) injury is poorly tolerated by fatty livers, most probably secondary to reduced cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels. We investigated the effectiveness of tacrolimus pretreatment on fatty liver I‐R injury in obese Zucker rats. Tacrolimus (0.3 mg/kg, intravenously) was injected 24 hours before a 75‐minute ischemic period and rats were sacrificed 6 hours later.

Nada Rayes, Daniel Seehofer, Peter Neuhaus – 30 January 2006