Hepatocyte Turnover in Chronic HCV-Induced Liver Injury and Cirrhosis.

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may eventually lead to progressive liver fibrosis and cirrhosis through a complex, multistep process involving hepatocyte death and regeneration. Despite common pathogenetic pathways present in all forms of liver cirrhosis irrespective of etiology, hepatocyte turnover and related molecular events in HCV-induced cirrhosis are increasingly being distinguished from even "similar" causes, such as hepatitis B virus- (HBV-) related cirrhosis. New insights in HCV-induced hepatocellular injury, differential gene expression, and regenerative pathways have recently revealed a different pattern of progression to irreversible parenchymal liver damage.

Proteasome inhibitors: possible novel therapeutic strategy for ischemia-reperfusion injury?

Introduction: The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is responsible for the degradation of misfolded or damaged proteins, regulating inflammatory processes and cell cycle progression. The aim of this article is to summarize the currently available data regarding the possible utility of proteasome inhibitors (PIs) in the treatment of ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI).

Areas Covered: Data were reviewed from the published literature using the Medline database.

Co-existence of hepatocellular adenoma and focal nodular hyperplasia in a young female.

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) and hepatocellular adenoma (HA) are both benign hepatocellular lesions, presenting mainly in women of childbearing age in non-cirrhotic, non-fibrotic livers. Simultaneous occurrence of these two lesions is extremely rare. We herein report a case of a young female without any predisposing risk factors who presented to our emergency department complaining of acute abdominal pain.

Surgical control of life-threatening post-ERCP bleeding with a gelatin matrix-thrombin hemostatic agent.

Introduction: Several conventional techniques have been developed in order to control surgical bleeding. Their greatest disadvantage, though, is their inability to control bleeding in areas where access is very difficult. In such cases the application of topical hemostatic agents may prove particularly useful.