Francis J. Eng, Ahmed El‐Shamy, Erin H. Doyle, Arielle Klepper, A. Scott Muerhoff, Andrea D. Branch – 12 November 2017 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most prevalent causes of chronic blood‐borne infections worldwide. Despite developments of highly effective treatments, most infected individuals are unaware of their infection. Approximately 75% of infections are in low‐ and middle‐income countries; therefore, continuing research in HCV molecular virology and the development of vaccines and affordable diagnostics is required to reduce the global burden.

Fernando Magdaleno, Xiaodong Ge, Holger Fey, Yongke Lu, Harriet Gaskell, Chuck C. Blajszczak, Costica Aloman, M. Isabel Fiel, Natalia Nieto – 12 November 2017 – The aim of this study was to investigate the role of osteopontin (OPN) in hematopoietic stem cell (HPSC) mobilization to the liver and its contribution to alcoholic liver disease (ALD). We analyzed young (14‐16 weeks) and old (>1.5 years) wild‐type (WT) littermates and global Opn knockout (Opn−/−) mice for HPSC mobilization to the liver. In addition, WT and Opn−/− mice were chronically fed the Lieber–DeCarli diet for 7 weeks.

Paul Adams, Christopher Howlett, Anargyros Xenocostas, Subrata Chakrabarti – 11 November 2017 – A 42‐year‐old man with hemochromatosis and cirrhosis developed aplastic anemia. He underwent liver transplantation from a female donor and splenectomy, and his aplastic anemia spontaneously resolved. A bone marrow examination 6 months after the liver transplant showed 17.5% female cells. He did well for 13 years without the need for any blood product support but then developed bone pain and was found to have metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in the vertebral bodies.

Nipun Verma, Shreya Singh, Gitesh Sawatkar, Virendra Singh – 11 November 2017 – Sofosbuvir is an imperative drug used in treatment regimens for hepatitis C virus (HCV). It is considered relatively safe with fewer adverse effects than other treatments. Here, we report a rare and potentially serious, dermatologic, adverse effect following the use of sofosbuvir. A 35‐year‐old man with genotype 3‐related HCV cirrhosis presented with decompensated ascites and jaundice following 7 weeks of therapy with peginterferon alpha‐2a and oral ribavirin.

Suthat Liangpunsakul, James J. Beaudoin, Vijay H. Shah, Puneet Puri, Arun J. Sanyal, Patrick S. Kamath, Spencer G. Lourens, Qing Tang, Barry P. Katz, David W. Crabb, Naga P. Chalasani – 11 November 2017 – Only a subset of subjects with excessive alcohol consumption develops alcoholic liver disease (ALD). One of the major risk factors for ALD is the genetic variant of the patatin‐like phospholipase domain‐containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) gene. Coffee is one of the most commonly consumed beverages, and coffee consumption has been associated with lower levels of serum alanine aminotransferase.

Qiang Liu, Ahmed Nassar, Laura Buccini, Giuseppe Iuppa, Basem Soliman, Daniele Pezzati, Ahmed Hassan, Matthew Blum, William Baldwin, Ana Bennett, Kenneth Chavin, Toshihiro Okamoto, Teresa Diago Uso, John Fung, Kareem Abu‐Elmagd, Charles Miller, Cristiano Quintini – 10 November 2017 – Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) is an emerging technology to preserve liver allografts more effectively than cold storage (CS). However, little is known about the effect of NMP on steatosis and the markers indicative of hepatic quality during NMP.

Benedikt Schaefer, Heinz Zoller, Stefan Schneeberger – 10 November 2017 – Organ shortage requires policies and guidelines to aid organ allocation along the principles of urgency or utility. Identifying patients with significant benefit and withholding liver transplantation (LT) from patients too sick for transplantation are ongoing challenges, in particular in patients with malignancies. An arbitrary threshold of >50% 5‐year overall survival (OS) is broadly considered a minimum standard for LT.

Nicolás Goldaracena, Andre Gorgen, Gonzalo Sapisochin – 10 November 2017

Allison Kwong, W. Ray Kim, Ajitha Mannalithara, Nae‐Yun Heo, Prowpanga Udompap, Donghee Kim – 10 November 2017 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been the leading indication for liver transplantation (LT) in the United States. Since 2013, interferon‐free antiviral therapy has led to sustained virological response in many LT candidates. We compared the wait‐list mortality of HCV patients with that of patients with other chronic liver diseases. Data for primary LT candidates were obtained from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network database.

Seogsong Jeong, Meng Sha, Qiang Xia – 10 November 2017