There has been a tremendous amount of scientific progress in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of transport processes in the liver within the last few years. Cloning of various members of organic anion and cation transporters has provided the necessary tools to study their regulation under physiological and pathophysiological conditions and has advanced our knowledge about bile formation. Mutations of various hepatic organic anion transporters have been identified in humans as hereditary defects leading to the heterogenous syndrome of progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC). Various mouse models including knockout animals have given us the opportunity to gain insight into lipid transport by the liver and the genetics of cholesterol gallstone formation. The physiology of bile duct cells and the molecular mechanisms leading to various cholangiopathies have been a main scientific focus in hepatology in recent years. Drug targeting to the liver by hepatic organic anion transporters represents an attractive way of selective delivery of pharmaceutical agents in humans. Ursodeoxycholic acid is successfully used in the treatment of patients with chronic cholestatic liver disease and major advances have been made in understanding its mode of action in liver and bile duct cells. This book, the proceedings of the Falk Workshop held in Aachen, Germany, on 25-26 January 2001, contains chapters on all important aspects of biliary transport by well-known experts in this field. It is an essential resource for new developments in the field of biliary transport, both in basic science and clinical medicine.

This new edition of Pediatric Gastrointestinal Disease is dedicated to the maintenance of a comprehensive approach to the practice of Pediatric Gastroenterology. Considered to be the definitive reference work, this fourth edition has been extensively reviewed. As a result, the size and content of various sections have been modified and new ......

It is increasingly recognized that various transporter proteins are expressed throughout the body and determine absorption, tissue distribution, biliary and renal elimination of endogenous compounds and drugs and drug effects. This book will give an overview on the transporter families which are most important for drug therapy. Most chapters will focus on one transporter family highlighting tissue expression, substrates, inhibitors, knock-out mouse models and clinical studies.

Knowledge of hepatobiliary transport is increasing rapidly. This book provides a cutting-edge overview of hepatobiliary transport and the molecular pathogenesis of cholestasis. Topics range from basic mechanisms of transport and regulation to general molecular and cellular concepts of cholestatic liver injury to specific molecular mechanisms of hereditary and acquired cholestatic liver injury, their complications and treatment. Basic researchers, academic physicians and students in hepatology, genetics, molecular and cell biology, pharmacology, pathology, gastroenterology and endocrinology will find this book instructive and stimulating.

One major function of the liver is the uptake of endo- and xenobiotics from the bloodstream and their excretion into bile. The transport systems involved in hepatobiliary transport have been recently cloned and characterized at the molecular level and it is becoming clear that mutations and polymorphisms of individual transporter molecules underlie a variety of liver diseases. Furthermore, new research has shown that bile acids, whose function in digestion is long known, also behave as signal molecules in a variety of organs, including the intestinal and biliary epithelia, sinusoidal endothelial and immune cells. This book provides indepth surveys on the structure and function of transport molecules involved in hepatobiliary transport, on the role of different bile acids receptors in various organs and their function in health and disease, the mechanisms of bile salt-induced apoptosis and hepatocyte protection, and the role of transporter mutations as causes and modifiers of liver diseases. The book will be of interest not only for biochemists, structural chemists and biologists, but also for clinicians.

Autoimmune processes in the liver can cause severe damage and destruction leading to cirrhosis and liver failure. The clinical spectrum of autoimmune liver disease is very wide, and diagnostic difficulties often stand at the beginning of the patient’s medical career. While in autoimmune hepatitis immunosuppressive therapy has long been shown to be life-saving, therapeutic progress is small in primary biliary cirrhosis and questionable in primary sclerosing cholangitis. New approaches to treatment will be needed in the future, but require better understanding of the pathogenesis of the underlying disease process. This book, the proceedings of Falk Symposium 142 on 'Autoimmune Liver Disease’ held in Freiburg, Germany, on 12–13 October 2004 (Part I of the Gastroenterology Week Freiburg), describes possible mechanisms of pathogenesis, discusses diagnostic criteria and takes up controversies concerning treatment options. In view of the relatively frequent manifestation of autoimmune hepatitis in childhood in particular, paediatric aspects of autoimmune liver disease, and the role of liver transplantation, are given prominence.

This book is the proceedings of the Falk Symposium No. 135 held in Prague, Czech Republic, on September 12-13, 2003, and is dedicated to the important issue of immunological aspects of diseases of the liver and gut. Without any doubt, immunological pathways are among the most important and universal factors in the pathogenesis of all diseases. Their importance is also constantly increasing, because these principles have been adopted in clinical practice for both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Chapters by prominent experts will stimulate new ideas and set the scene for productive discussion on this topic.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CC), both increasing in incidence, have become a major topic of basic and clinical research as well as clinical practice in hepatology. Experts in the field update the current concepts on the carcinogenesis of HCC and CC such as genetic alterations in the pathways of cell cylce and apoptosis regulation, the hypothesis of dedifferentiation of hepatocytes to the malignant phenotype vs that of activation of hepatic progenitor cells incapable of maturation (maturation arrest hypothesis). In spite of an increasing number of genetic alterations described in human HCC as well as cell regulatory pathways tested in experimental HCC models, the key hits causing progression of the cell cycle in imbalance with apoptosis, tissue invasive growth and metastatic potential of cell clones still remain elusive. Very powerful genomic and proteomic techniques are promising insights into the carcinogenesis of liver malignancies that will allow more efficient therapeutic strategies. The current concepts on risk profiling, surveillance of risk groups and therapeutic strategies are evidence-based for HCC and less detailed for CC. Surveillance of risk groups improves detection of liver tumours in curable stages. Best strategies for curative treatment of HCC use neoadjuvant antitumour therapies before liver transplantation and a role is emerging for living donor-related liver transplantation. New palliative therapies for HCC are in the experimental stage with biological response modifiers, including angiogenesis inhibitors, and entering phase II clinical trials with the alpha-fetoprotein derived vaccines.

This book, the proceedings of Falk Symposium No. 125 on 'Cytokines in Liver Injury and Repair' (Progress in Gastroenterology and Hepatology Part II), held in Hannover, Germany, on September 30 - October 1, 2001, provides an update of our current knowledge on the role of cytokines in various human and experimental liver diseases and on their present and prospective use in therapeutic trials. The book contains chapters by most well-known experts in the field who have contributed significantly to our present knowledge on cytokines in liver injury and repair.