Decreasing mortality and disease severity in hepatitis C patients awaiting liver transplantation in the United States

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.

Con: Liver transplantation for expanded criteria malignant diseases

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.

Lipid metabolism and functional assessment of discarded human livers with steatosis undergoing 24 hours of normothermic machine perfusion

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.

Association of vitamin E intake at early childhood with alanine aminotransferase levels at mid‐childhood

Jennifer A. Woo Baidal, Erika R. Cheng, Sheryl L. Rifas‐Shiman, Emily Oken, Matthew W. Gillman, Elsie M. Taveras – 9 November 2017 – The extent to which vitamin E (alpha‐tocopherol) intake early in childhood is associated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level later in childhood is unknown. The objective of this research is to test the hypothesis that higher alpha‐tocopherol intake during early childhood is associated with lower odds of elevated ALT levels during mid‐childhood and to examine how body mass index (BMI) influences these relationships.

WW and C2 domain–containing proteins regulate hepatic cell differentiation and tumorigenesis through the hippo signaling pathway

Anke Hermann, Dirk Oliver Wennmann, Sascha Gromnitza, Maria Edeling, Veerle Van Marck, Marius Sudol, Liliana Schaefer, Kerstin Duning, Thomas Weide, Hermann Pavenstädt, Joachim Kremerskothen – 8 November 2017 – The Hippo pathway regulates cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. Upon activation, it inhibits the import of the transcriptional coactivator yes‐associated protein (YAP) into the nucleus, thus suppressing transcription of pro‐proliferative genes.

Hairy and enhancer of split 6 prevents hepatic lipid accumulation through inhibition of Pparg2 expression

Jung Eun Park, Mikang Lee, Seong‐Chul Kim, Yanqiao Zhang, James P. Hardwick, Yoon Kwang Lee – 8 November 2017 – Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a master regulator for white adipocyte differentiation and lipid storage. The increased level of hepatic PPARγ2 isoform reprograms liver for lipid storage and causes abnormal fat accumulation in certain pathophysiologic conditions. The current study aimed to investigate a role of transcriptional repressor hairy and enhancer of split 6 (HES6) in the regulation of Pparg2 expression and hepatic steatosis induced by diet.

Restoration of a healthy intestinal microbiota normalizes portal hypertension in a rat model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Teresa García‐Lezana, Imma Raurell, Miren Bravo, Manuel Torres‐Arauz, María Teresa Salcedo, Alba Santiago, Andreu Schoenenberger, Chaysavanh Manichanh, Joan Genescà, María Martell, Salvador Augustin – 7 November 2017 – Portal hypertension (PH) drives most of the clinical complications in chronic liver diseases. However, its progression in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and its association with the intestinal microbiota (IM) have been scarcely studied. Our aim was to investigate the role of the IM in the mechanisms leading to PH in early NASH.

Incidence and predictors of hepatitis B surface antigen seroclearance after cessation of nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy in hepatitis B e antigen–negative chronic hepatitis B

Wen‐Juei Jeng, Yi‐Cheng Chen, Rong‐Nan Chien, I‐Shyan Sheen, Yun‐Fan Liaw – 6 November 2017 – Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss is a rare event during nucleos(t)ide analogue (Nuc) therapy. Limited data suggest that stopping Nuc therapy may increase HBsAg loss rate in hepatitis B e antigen–negative patients. A large study was conducted to investigate this issue in more detail. Of the 1,075 hepatitis B e antigen–negative patients treated with Nuc for a median of 156 (61‐430) weeks, 5 showed HBsAg seroclearance during treatment at an estimated annual incidence of 0.15%.

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