Lisa B. VanWagner, Fasiha Kanwal – 14 March 2018 – With the passage of the Affordable Care Act followed by the physician payment reform, there is an urgent need to better understand the complex relationships between structure (including incentives), processes, and outcomes of health care and, based on this understanding, identify interventions that can ensure delivery of high‐value care to patients with liver disease. As hepatologists, how do we systematically address these issues and ensure that we provide high‐value care to our patients?

Tiong Y. Lim, Enoka Gonsalkorala, Mary D. Cannon, Stella Gabeta, Leonie Penna, Nigel D. Heaton, Michael A. Heneghan – 14 March 2018 – Liver transplantation (LT) is a successful treatment for both acute liver failure and end‐stage liver disease. The number of women of reproductive age undergoing LT is increasing. Pregnancy outcomes are favorable, but there is still a lack of prognostic markers. We aimed to identify factors predictive of adverse pregnancy outcomes in LT recipients.

Chen Qu, Dandan Zheng, Sai Li, Yingjun Liu, Anna Lidofsky, Jacinta A. Holmes, Jianning Chen, Lu He, Lan Wei, Yadi Liao, Hui Yuan, Qimeng Jin, Zelong Lin, Qiaoting Hu, Yuchuan Jiang, Mengxian Tu, Xijun Chen, Weiming Li, Wenyu Lin, Bryan C. Fuchs, Raymond T. Chung, Jian Hong – 14 March 2018 – Spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) plays a critical role in immune cell signaling pathways and has been reported as a biomarker for human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We sought to investigate the mechanism by which SYK promotes liver fibrosis and to evaluate SYK as a therapeutic target for liver fibrosis.

Cynthia A. Moylan, Manal F. Abdelmalek – 13 March 2018

Narayan Ramamurthy, Emanuele Marchi, M. Azim Ansari, Vincent Pedergnana, Angela Mclean, Emma Hudson, STOP HCV consortium, Rory Bowden, Chris C.A. Spencer, Eleanor Barnes, Paul Klenerman – 13 March 2018 – New directly acting antivirals (DAAs) provide very high cure rates in most patients infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, some patient groups have been relatively harder to treat, including those with cirrhosis or infected with HCV genotype 3.

Deqiang Zhang, Xin Tong, Bradley B. Nelson, Ethan Jin, Julian Sit, Nicholas Charney, Meichan Yang, M. Bishr Omary, Lei Yin – 13 March 2018 – Alcohol liver disease (ALD) is one of the major chronic liver diseases worldwide, ranging from fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and potentially, hepatocellular carcinoma. Epidemiological studies suggest a potential link between ALD and impaired circadian rhythms, but the role of hepatic circadian proteins in the pathogenesis of ALD remains unknown.

James Fung, Ka‐Shing Cheung, Danny Ka‐Ho Wong, Lung‐Yi Mak, Wai‐Pan To, Wai‐Kay Seto, Ching‐Lung Lai, Man‐Fung Yuen – 13 March 2018 – The significance of hepatitis B e‐antigen (HBeAg) seroclearance (ESC) in the long term is not well defined. The current study aimed to determine the clinical outcomes, the factors and predictive scores for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance of a large cohort of patients undergoing ESC. Patients with documented ESC were followed up 3‐ to 6‐monthly.

Nao Nishida, Masaya Sugiyama, Hiromi Sawai, Sohji Nishina, Aiko Sakai, Jun Ohashi, Seik‐Soon Khor, Keisuke Kakisaka, Takayo Tsuchiura, Keisuke Hino, Ryo Sumazaki, Yasuhiro Takikawa, Kazumoto Murata, Tatsuo Kanda, Osamu Yokosuka, Katsushi Tokunaga, Masashi Mizokami – 13 March 2018 – Approximately 5‐10% of individuals who are vaccinated with a hepatitis B (HB) vaccine designed based on the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C fail to acquire protective levels of antibodies.

Seidai Wada, Etsuro Hatano, Tomoaki Yoh, Naohiko Nakamura, Yukihiro Okuda, Masayuki Okuno, Yosuke Kasai, Keiko Iwaisako, Satoru Seo, Kojiro Taura, Shinji Uemoto – 10 March 2018 – Ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) is one of the main causes of liver dysfunction after liver surgery. Involvement of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in various diseases has been demonstrated, and CAAT/enhancer binding protein–homologous protein (CHOP) is a transcriptional regulator that is induced by ER stress. It is also a key regulator of ER stress‐mediated apoptosis.

Stefan Gilg, Ernesto Sparrelid, Lars Saraste, Greg Nowak, Staffan Wahlin, Cecilia Strömberg, Lars Lundell, Bengt Isaksson – 8 March 2018 – Posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) represents the single most important cause of postoperative mortality after major liver resection, yet no effective treatment option is available. Extracorporeal liver support devices might be helpful, but systematic studies are lacking. Accordingly, we aimed to assess the safety and feasibility of the Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating System (MARS) in patients with PHLF.