Kenichi Ikejima, Hajime Honda, Mutsuko Yoshikawa, Miyoko Hirose, Tsuneo Kitamura, Yoshiyuki Takei, Nobuhiro Sato – 30 December 2003 – Lines of evidence suggested a possible link between leptin and hepatic fibrosis; however, whether leptin modulates the fibrogenesis in the liver remains unclear. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the effect of leptin on inflammatory and profibrogenic responses in the liver caused by hepatotoxic chemicals.

W. Ray Kim, Walter Kremers, Patrick S. Kamath, Russell H. Wiesner, Michael Malinchoc, Terry M. Therneau, E. Rolland Dickson – 30 December 2003

Tuan H. Vu, Kurenai Tanji, Stephen A. Holve, Eduardo Bonilla, Ronald J. Sokol, Russell D. Snyder, Stephany Fiore, Gail H. Deutsch, Salvatore DiMauro, Darryl De Vivo – 30 December 2003 – Navajo neurohepatopathy (NNH) is an autosomal recessive disease of full‐blooded Navajo children living in the Navajo Reservation of southwestern United States. Clinical features of NNH include peripheral and central nervous system involvement, acral mutilation, corneal scarring or ulceration, liver failure, and metabolic and immunologic derangement.

Miguel R. Arguedas, Anita Johnson, Mohamad A. Eloubeidi, Michael B. Fallon – 30 December 2003 – Hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccination is recommended in chronic liver disease because of an increased morbidity and mortality associated with HAV superinfection. However, data regarding the efficacy of HAV vaccination in patients with advanced chronic liver disease is limited. We assessed the efficacy of a standard HAV vaccination schedule in decompensated chronic liver disease in comparison with compensated disease and defined clinical predictors associated with seroconversion.

Hari S. Conjeevaram, Anna S. Lok – 30 December 2003

Nancy W. Y. Leung, Ching‐Lung Lai, Ting‐Tsung Chang, Richard Guan, Chuan‐Mo Lee, Keng‐Yeen Ng, Seng‐Gee Lim, Pui‐Chee Wu, Julie C. Dent, Sally Edmundson, Lynn D. Condreay, Rong‐Nan Chien, on behalf of the ASIA HEPATITIS LAMIVUDINE STUDY GROUP – 30 December 2003 – A study in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B showed that treatment with lamivudine for 1 year significantly improves liver histology and enhances hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion compared with placebo.

John W. Barnwell – 30 December 2003

Marius C. Van Den Heuvel, Maarten J. H. Slooff, Lydia Visser, Michael Muller, Koert P. De Jong, Sibrand Poppema, Annette S. H. Gouw – 30 December 2003 – Following hepatic injury, proliferation of anastomosing ductules can be observed. The origin of this ductular reaction is not completely clear, although there is considerable evidence for proliferation of a putative hepatic progenitor cell, reported to be located in the canals of Hering (CoH) and showing morphologic similarities with rat oval cells.

Carol J. Soroka, John M. Lee, Francesco Azzaroli, James L. Boyer – 30 December 2003 – The hepatic expression of the ATP‐dependent conjugate export pump multidrug resistance–associated protein 2 (Mrp2) is diminished in experimentally induced models of cholestasis. In this study we have examined the localization and expression of Mrp3, another member of the multidrug resistance–associated protein family, in normal liver and after obstructive cholestasis in the rat.

Yoshimichi Haruna, Tsutomu Kanda, Masaharu Honda, Tetsuto Takao, Norio Hayashi – 30 December 2003 – The pathobiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the biliary system has not been clarified yet, although bile duct damage is a histological finding characteristic of chronic hepatitis C. In this study, we examined whether HCV infects bile ducts and is released into the bile. Twelve patients positive for serum HCV antibody were examined in this study, and eight were seropositive for HCV RNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).