Nicholas O. Davidson – 16 October 2018

Helene Gellert‐Kristensen, Nawar Dalila, Sune Fallgaard Nielsen, Børge Grønne Nordestgaard, Anne Tybjærg‐Hansen, Stefan Stender – 16 October 2018 – Gallstone disease is a common complex disease that confers a substantial economic burden on society. The genetic underpinnings of gallstone disease remain incompletely understood. We aimed to identify genetic associations with gallstone disease using publicly available data from the UK Biobank and two large Danish cohorts.

Helene Gellert‐Kristensen, Nawar Dalila, Sune Fallgaard Nielsen, Børge Grønne Nordestgaard, Anne Tybjærg‐Hansen, Stefan Stender – 16 October 2018 – Gallstone disease is a common complex disease that confers a substantial economic burden on society. The genetic underpinnings of gallstone disease remain incompletely understood. We aimed to identify genetic associations with gallstone disease using publicly available data from the UK Biobank and two large Danish cohorts.

Arvin Iracheta‐Vellve, Charles D. Calenda, Jan Petrasek, Aditya Ambade, Karen Kodys, Luciano Adorini, Gyongyi Szabo – 15 October 2018 – Bile acids (BAs) activate various dedicated receptors, including the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) and the Takeda G protein‐coupled receptor 5 (TGR5). The FXR agonist obeticholic acid (OCA) is licensed for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis and has shown promising results in NASH patients, whereas TGR5 agonists target inflammation and metabolism.

Philip Rosenthal, Simon C. Ling, Steven H. Belle, Karen F. Murray, Norberto Rodriguez‐Baez, Sarah J. Schwarzenberg, Jeffrey Teckman, Hsing‐Hua S. Lin, Kathleen B. Schwarz, for the Hepatitis B Research Network (HBRN) – 15 October 2018 – The optimal management strategy for children with immune‐tolerant chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains unknown. The purpose of this clinical trial was to determine the safety and efficacy of therapy with entecavir and peginterferon in a group of children in the immune‐tolerant phase of HBV infection.

Philip Rosenthal, Simon C. Ling, Steven H. Belle, Karen F. Murray, Norberto Rodriguez‐Baez, Sarah J. Schwarzenberg, Jeffrey Teckman, Hsing‐Hua S. Lin, Kathleen B. Schwarz, for the Hepatitis B Research Network (HBRN) – 15 October 2018 – The optimal management strategy for children with immune‐tolerant chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains unknown. The purpose of this clinical trial was to determine the safety and efficacy of therapy with entecavir and peginterferon in a group of children in the immune‐tolerant phase of HBV infection.

Juan G. Abraldes, Jonel Trebicka, Naga Chalasani, Gennaro D’Amico, Don C. Rockey, Vijay H. Shah, Jaime Bosch, Guadalupe Garcia‐Tsao – 15 October 2018 – Portal hypertension (PH) is the main driver of cirrhosis decompensation, the main determinant of death in patients with cirrhosis. PH results initially from increased intrahepatic vascular resistance. Subsequently, increased inflow from splanchnic vasodilation and increased cardiac output lead to a further increase in portal pressure (PP). Reducing PP in cirrhosis results in better outcomes. Removing the cause of cirrhosis might improve PP.

Marco Sanduzzi‐Zamparelli, Álvaro Díaz‐Gonzalez, María Reig – 13 October 2018 – The principal advancements in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are the use of new systemic treatments, such as lenvatinib in first‐line treatment and regorafenib, cabozantinib, and ramucirumab in second‐line treatment, because of their benefits in terms of overall survival. In addition, nivolumab as a second‐line agent was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2017 based on improved radiological response data.

Jacob D. de Boer, Joris J. Blok, Hein Putter, Jacob J. E. Koopman, Bart van Hoek, Undine Samuel, Marieke van Rosmalen, Herold J. Metselaar, Ian P. J. Alwayn, Markus Guba, Andries E. Braat, for the Eurotransplant Liver and Intestine Advisory Committee – 13 October 2018 – Acceptance criteria for liver allografts are ever more expanding because of a persisting wait‐list mortality. Older livers are therefore offered and used more frequently for transplantation. This study aims to analyze the use and longterm outcome of these transplantations.

Ashwin Rammohan, Mettu S. Reddy, Gomathy Narasimhan, Rajesh Rajalingam, Ilankumaran Kaliamoorthy, Naresh Shanmugam, Mohamed Rela – 13 October 2018 – Auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation (APOLT) in selected noncirrhotic metabolic liver diseases (NCMLDs) is a viable alternative to orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) as it supplements the function of the native liver with the missing functional protein. APOLT for NCMLD is not universally accepted due to concerns of increased technical complications and longterm graft atrophy.