Michael D. Young, David L. Schneider, Arie J. Zuckerman, Wei Du, Brian Dickson, Willis C. Maddrey – 30 December 2003 – Present hepatitis B vaccines use multidose prolonged regimens, which even healthcare workers at risk do not always complete. Moreover, when vaccination is completed there remain some who fail to achieve adequate protection. The protection of adults at risk could be improved if there were a more potent vaccine and/or a shorter vaccination regimen available.

Lesley C. Rausch‐Derra, Dylan P. Hartley, Peter J. Meier, Curtis D. Klaassen – 30 December 2003 – The organic anion transporting polypeptides, Oatp1 (Slc21a1) and Oatp2 (Slc21a5), mediate hepatic uptake of cardiac glycosides. Previously, we demonstrated that chemicals that increase cytochrome P450s differentially affect hepatic uptake of cardiac glycosides. We postulated that increased uptake of cardiac glycosides observed after pretreatment of animals with phenobarbital (PB) and pregnenolone‐16α‐carbonitrile (PCN) occurs via increased hepatic expression of Oatp1 and/or Oatp2.

Tushar Patel – 30 December 2003 – Clinical observations suggest a recent increase in intrahepatic biliary tract malignancies. Thus, our aim was to determine recent trends in the epidemiology of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in the United States. Reported data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program and the United States Vital Statistics databases were analyzed to determine the incidence, mortality, and survival rates of primary intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Luigi E. Adinolfi, Michele Gambardella, Augusto Andreana, Marie‐françoise Tripodi, Riccardo Utili, Giuseppe Ruggiero – 30 December 2003 – The role of steatosis in the progression of liver damage in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) was studied. Enrolled were 180 consecutive liver biopsy‐proven CHC patients and 41 additional subjects with a known duration of infection. We evaluated the histological activity index (HAI), grade of fibrosis and steatosis, body mass index (BMI; kg/m2), distribution of body fat, HCV genotype, and levels of HCV RNA.

Junko Sugatani, Hiroyuki Kojima, Akiko Ueda, Satoru Kakizaki, Kouichi Yoshinari, Qi‐Hui Gong, Ida S. Owens, Masahiko Negishi, Tatsuya Sueyoshi – 30 December 2003 – The UDP‐glucuronosyltransferase, UGT1A1, is the critical enzyme responsible for detoxification of the potentially neurotoxic bilirubin by conjugating it with glucuronic acid. For decades, phenobarbital (PB) treatment for hyperbilirubinemia has been known to increase expression of the UGT1A1 gene in liver. We have now delineated the PB response activity to a 290‐bp distal enhancer sequence (−3483/−3194) of the UGT1A1 gene.

Macé M. Schuurmans, Francine Hoffmann, Raija L. Lindberg, Urs A. Meyer – 30 December 2003 – Zinc mesoporphyrin (ZnMP) is a potent inhibitor of heme oxygenase (HO) and represses 5‐aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALAS). These properties make it a potential candidate for treatment of inducible acute hepatic porphyrias, diseases characterized by neurovisceral symptoms, and massive ALAS induction.

Ulrich Beuers, Manfred Bilzer, Anila Chittattu, Gerd A. Kullak‐Ublick, Dietrich Keppler, Gustav Paumgartner, Frank Dombrowski – 30 December 2003 – Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) exerts anticholestatic effects by undefined mechanisms. Previous work suggested that UDCA stimulates biliary exocytosis via Ca++‐ and protein kinase C (PKC)‐dependent mechanisms.

Alyssa M. Krasinskas, Eduardo D. Ruchelli, Elizabeth B. Rand, Jesse L. Chittams, Emma E. Furth – 30 December 2003 – Central venulitis (CV), a distinct histologic lesion described in adult liver transplants, can occur with acute portal tract rejection or in isolation (ICV). Possible etiologies include immunosuppressive drug toxicity, acute cellular rejection, viral hepatitis, ischemic injury, and recurrent disease.

Maura Dandri, Martin R. Burda, Eva Török, Joerg M. Pollok, Alicja Iwanska, Gunhild Sommer, Xavier Rogiers, Charles E. Rogler, Sanjeev Gupta, Hans Will, Heiner Greten, Joerg Petersen – 30 December 2003 – Mice containing livers repopulated with human hepatocytes would provide excellent in vivo models for studies on human liver diseases and hepatotropic viruses, for which no permissive cell lines exist.

Toshiaki Ichihara, Yoshinori Komagata, Xiao‐Li Yang, Tadayoshi Uezato, Katsuhiko Enomoto, Kenji Koyama, Jun‐ichi Miyazaki, Toshihiro Sugiyama, Naoyuki Miura – 30 December 2003 – Previously, retinoblastoma (Rb) transgenic mice were produced under the control of the Rb gene promoter and showed dwarf characteristics. Here, we created transgenic mice, in which the human Rb gene was controlled by the hepatocyte nuclear factor‐1 gene promoter/enhancer and was expressed primarily in the liver. The liver of these novel transgenic mice was normally developed.