Jun Yang, Woody Denham, Gay Carter, Kevin J. Tracey, James Norman – 30 December 2003 – Overproduction of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α), interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β), and nitric oxide (NO) is believed to be detrimental during the progression of acute pancreatitis, yet little is known about the hepatic production of these mediators and their role in mediating pancreatitis‐induced hepatic dysfunction.

Chi‐Sen Chang, Gran‐Hum Chen, Han‐Chung Lien, Hong‐Zen Yeh – 30 December 2003 – Patients with bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine developed spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) more frequently than patients without bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine. The objective of this study was to determine whether the incidences of small intestine dysmotility and bacterial overgrowth are higher in cirrhotic patients with a history of SBP than in cirrhotic patients without SBP. Forty cirrhotic patients were enrolled in this study.

Mara Massimi, Steven R. Lear, Sandra L. Huling, Albert L. Jones, Sandra K. Erickson – 30 December 2003 – Cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase is a rate‐limiting enzyme in bile acid synthesis, a major pathway for cholesterol catabolism. It plays a crucial role in postnatal development and survival. In an adult liver, its activity and messenger RNA (mRNA) are heterogeneously distributed with concentration in the pericentral area.

Félix Ruiz, Fernando J. Corrales, Carmen Miqueo, José M. Mato – 30 December 2003 – We investigated the mechanism of nitric oxide (NO) action on hepatic methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) activity using S‐nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) as NO donor. Hepatic MAT plays an essential role in the metabolism of methionine, converting this amino acid into S‐adenosylmethionine. Hepatic MAT exists in two oligomeric states: as a tetramer (MAT I) and as a dimer (MAT III) of the same subunit. This subunit contains 10 cysteine residues.

Yasuhiro Yamada, Eric M. Webber, Irina Kirillova, Jacques J. Peschon, Nelson Fausto – 30 December 2003 – We used KO mice lacking either TNF receptor 1 (TNFR‐1) or receptor 2 (TNFR‐2) to determine whether signaling at the start of liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PH) involves only one or both TNF receptors and to analyze in more detail the abnormalities caused by lack of TNFR‐1 receptor, which is required for the initiation of liver regeneration.

Norman D. Grace, Roberto J. Groszmann, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao, Andrew K. Burroughs, Luigi Pagliaro, Robert W. Makuch, Jaime Bosch, Gregory V. Stiegmann, J. Michael Henderson, Roberto de Franchis, Judith L. Wagner, Harold O. Conn, Juan Rodes – 30 December 2003

Toshimi Kaido, Akira Yoshikawa, Shin‐ichi Seto, Shoji Yamaoka, Maki Sato, Takehisa Ishii, Masayuki Imamura – 30 December 2003 – In a cirrhotic liver, the regenerative ability and specific functions are so impaired that excessive resection easily complicates postoperative liver dysfunction, which frequently leads to life‐threatening multiple‐organ failure.

Bimbi Fernando, Richard Marley, Steve Holt, Radhi Anand, David Harry, Peter Sanderson, Roy Smith, George Hamilton, Kevin Moore – 30 December 2003 – Partial portal vein ligation (PPVL) leads to the development of a hyperdynamic circulation. It is associated with elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF‐α) and nitric oxide (NO) production, both of which can result in oxidant injury. In this study, we have investigated whether PPVL is associated with the development of oxidative stress, by measuring urinary F2‐isoprostanes.

Manus M. Moloney, Linda J. Thomson, Michael J. Strettell, Roger Williams, Peter T. Donaldson – 30 December 2003 – Genetic susceptibility to primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is associated with the extended HLA A1‐B8‐DR3 haplotype and also with the DRB3*0101‐DRB1*0301‐DQA1*0103‐DQB1*0603 haplotype. However, very few studies have considered the role of HLA C which lies between HLA A and B, is highly polymorphic, and encodes proteins which play an important role in immunoregulation and in disease susceptibility.

Peter Nagy, Andras Kiss, Janos Schnur, Snorri S. Thorgeirsson – 30 December 2003 – Recent advances have implicated the importance of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin 6 (IL‐6) in the regulation of liver growth. Therefore, we studied how dexamethasone, a well‐known inhibitor of these cytokines, influences the proliferation of different hepatic cell populations. As we expected, dexamethasone pretreatment suppressed the expression of both TNF and IL‐6 after partial hepatectomy and significantly reduced the proliferative response of the hepatocytes.