Andrea Galli, David Crabb, Donna Price, Elisabetta Ceni, Renata Salzano, Calogero Surrenti, Alessandro Casini – 30 December 2003 – During liver injury, hepatic stellate cells (HSC) acquire a myofibroblast‐like phenotype associated with reduction of lipid droplets, increased collagen synthesis, and proliferation. Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ (PPARγ) regulates adipocyte differentiation and controls gene transcription in response to various activators including prostanoids and antidiabetic thiazolidinediones.

Chise Tateno, Kaori Takai‐Kajihara, Chihiro Yamasaki, Hajime Sato, Katsutoshi Yoshizato – 30 December 2003 – Nearly pure populations of small hepatocytes (SHs), parenchymal hepatocytes (PHs), and nonparenchymal cells (NPCs) were prepared from the adult rat, and cocultures of hepatocytes and NPCs were reconstituted from them first to obtain the direct evidence that NPCs promote the growth of hepatocytes and second to compare the growth potential between SHs and PHs.

Sandra Reynoso‐Paz, Patrick S.C. Leung, Judy Van de Water, Atsushi Tanaka, Santiago Munoz, Nathan Bass, Keith Lindor, Paul J. Donald, Ross L. Coppel, Aftab A. Ansari, M. Eric Gershwin – 30 December 2003 – Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is often considered to be a dry gland disease caused by frequent involvement of salivary and lacrimal glands. Although high titers of antimitochondrial autoantibodies (AMA) have long been recognized in PBC, little is known about the presence of mitochondrial autoantigens in mucosal compartments such as saliva.

Franco Trevisani, Giuseppe Sica, Paola Mainquà, Giuseppina Santese, Stefania De Notariis, Paolo Caraceni, Marco Domenicali, Fabio Zacà, Gian Luca Grazi, Alighieri Mazziotti, Antonino Cavallari, Mauro Bernardi – 30 December 2003 – Patients with advanced cirrhosis frequently show hemodynamic abnormalities. Autonomic dysfunction (AD) is also common and, owing to the importance of autonomic function in cardiovascular homeostasis, it may be involved in the pathogenesis of the hyperdynamic circulation.

Kiyoshi Yamazaki, Kazuyuki Suzuki, Atsushi Nakamura, Shunichi Sato, Keith D. Lindor, Kenneth P. Batts, James E. Tarara, Gail M. Kephart, Hirohito Kita, Gerald J. Gleich – 30 December 2003 – Eosinophilia is a distinctive feature of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), especially in its early stages. Intriguingly, treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) ameliorates eosinophilia as well as liver tests in patients with PBC. It remains unknown, however, whether eosinophils in PBC patients are functionally activated and whether UDCA inhibits eosinophil activation.

Hannes Hentze, Gerald Künstle, Christiane Volbracht, Wolfgang Ertel, Albrecht Wendel – 30 December 2003 – Agonistic engagement of the cytokine receptor CD95 in mice leads to activation of hepatic caspases, followed by massive hepatocyte apoptosis, acute liver failure, and death. This mechanism of cell death is thought to be associated with several human liver disorders. Because hepatic glutathione represents the major defense against toxic liver injury, we investigated its role in CD95‐mediated liver failure, which represents a model for hyperinflammatory organ destruction.

Kazuo Ikeda, Tomoyuki Wakahara, Yan Qing Wang, Hirokazu Kadoya, Norifumi Kawada, Kenji Kaneda – 30 December 2003 – In liver injury, hepatic stellate cells are considered to depart from the sinusoidal wall and accumulate in the necrotic lesion through migration and proliferation. In this study, we investigated the migratory capacity of quiescent stellate cells in vitro and analyzed the relationship with proliferative response.

Brigitte Bernard, Jean‐Didier Grangé, Eric Nguyen Khac, Xavier Amiot, Pierre Opolon, Thierry Poynard – 30 December 2003 – In cirrhotic patients with gastrointestinal bleeding, antibiotic prophylaxis decreases the incidence of infections but most randomized trials have not shown an increase in survival. The aim of this meta‐analysis was to assess the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis in the prevention of infections and its effect on survival rate in cirrhotic patients with gastrointestinal bleeding.

Richard M. Green, Kathy Lo, Coreen Sterritt, David R. Beier – 30 December 2003 – Hepatic uptake of organic cations is essential for the metabolism and secretion of numerous endobiotics and drugs. Several hepatic organic cation transporters have been kinetically defined, yet have not been isolated or cloned. We have isolated a complementary DNA (cDNA) from both murine liver and kidney cDNA libraries (mOct1/Slc22a1), and have functionally expressed it in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

Chandrashekhar R. Gandhi, Ruhul Kuddus, Vladimir M. Subbotin, John Prelich, Noriko Murase, Abdul S. Rao, Michael A. Nalesnik, Simon C. Watkins, Albert DeLeo, Massimo Trucco, Thomas E. Starzl – 30 December 2003 – Augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) is a hepatotrophic protein originally identified by bioassay in regenerating rat and canine livers following partial hepatectomy and in the hyperplastic livers of weanling rats, but not in resting adult livers.