1. Significance of apoptotic cell death in systemic complications with severe acute pancreatitis

   • Yoshifumi Takeyama

   Review Pages: 1 - 10

2. Abnormal acid reflux in asthmatic patients in a region with low GERD prevalence

   • Jen-Yuan Hsu
   • Han-Chung Lien
   • Gran-Hum Chen

   OriginalPaper Pages: 11 - 15

3. MyD88-deficient mice develop severe intestinal inflammation in dextran sodium sulfate colitis

   • Akihiro Araki
   • Takanori Kanai
   • Mamoru Watanabe

   OriginalPaper Pages: 16 - 23

4. Defense mechanisms in inflammatory bowel disease

   • Thomas N. Hyphantis
   • John K. Triantafillidis
   • Venetsanos G. Mavreas

   OriginalPaper Pages: 24 - 30

5. Promoter-controlled infectivity-enhanced conditionally replicative adenoviral vectors for the treatment of gastric cancer

   • Hidetaka A. Ono
   • Julia G. Davydova
   • Masato Yamamoto

   OriginalPaper Pages: 31 - 42

6. Nonstructural 5A gene variability of hepatitis C virus (HCV) during a 10-year follow up

   • Wenmei Fan
   • Wanfu Zhu
   • Hui Zhuang

   OriginalPaper Pages: 43 - 51

7. Soluble CD163 in patients with liver diseases: very high levels of soluble CD163 in patients with fulminant hepatic failure

   • Atsushi Hiraoka
   • Norio Horiike
   • Morikazu Onji

   OriginalPaper Pages: 52 - 56

8. Pulmonary blood transit time and impaired arterial oxygenation in patients with chronic liver disease

   • Yasumi Katsuta
   • Hiroshi Honma
   • Teruo Takano

   OriginalPaper Pages: 57 - 63

9. Evaluation of arterial blood flow in esophageal varices via endoscopic color Doppler ultrasonography with a galactose-based contrast agent

   • Takahiro Sato
   • Katsu Yamazaki
   • Toshihiro Suga

   OriginalPaper Pages: 64 - 69

10. Prognostic factors in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma receiving hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy

    • Takahiro Yamasaki
    • Teruaki Kimura
    • Kiwamu Okita

    OriginalPaper Pages: 70 - 78

11. Microsatellite instability in preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the gallbladder

    • Juan Carlos Roa
    • Iván Roa
    • Barbara G. Schneider

    OriginalPaper Pages: 79 - 86

12. A case of leptomeningeal carcinomatosis from esophageal basaloid carcinoma diagnosed by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for carcinoembryonic antigen

    • Hiroshi Okumura
    • Shoji Natsugoe
    • Takashi Aikou

    Case report Pages: 87 - 93

13. Helicobacter heilmannii infection in a child after successful eradication of Helicobacter pylori: case report and review of literature

    • Seiichi Kato
    • Kyoko Ozawa
    • Kazuie Iinuma

    Case report Pages: 94 - 97

14. Endoscopic resection for the diagnosis of visceral Kaposi’s sarcoma

    • Junichi Sakagami
    • Yoshio Sogame
    • Norio Yoshimura

    Case report Pages: 98 - 103

15. Eradication of Helicobacter pylori decreases mucosal alterations linked to gastric carcinogenesis in Mongolian gerbils

    • Fukuto Maruta
    • Atsushi Sugiyama
    • Tsutomu Katsuyama

    Letters to the editor Pages: 104 - 105

16. Hyperammonemia-induced encephalopathy due to ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency in an adult woman: identification of novel missense mutations

    • Atsushi Tanaka
    • Tadashi Wada
    • Yasuhiro Komatsu

    Letters to the editor Pages: 106 - 107

17. Two cases of acute necrotizing pancreatitis complicating after transcatheter arterial embolization for hepatocellular carcinoma

    • Hideyuki Komekado
    • Hiroyuki Kokuryu
    • Hiroshi Seno

    Letters to the editor Pages: 107 - 108

18. Reflux or reflex in GERD-related asthma

    • Michio Hongo

    Editorial Pages: 109 - 110

19. Are intestinal microbes our friend or foe?

    • Hiroaki Ito

    Editorial Pages: 111 - 112

20. Genetic changes in the interferon sensitivity-determining region of hepatitis C virus (HCV) during the natural course of infection: an implication for the gene function in the role of chronic infection

    • Shinya Maekawa
    • Nobuyuki Enomoto

    Editorial Pages: 113 - 115