This book contains the proceedings of Falk Symposium 167 entitled Liver under Constant Attack - From Fat to Viruses', which was held in Mainz, Germany, on 20-21 September 2008. It merges up-to-date viral liver immunology with relevant topics in clinical practice. Sections cover viral hepatitis, immunosuppressive approaches in liver patients, malignant liver diseases, inflammatory liver diseases and complications of liver cirrhosis. Interdisciplinary discussion of new concepts in the treatment of liver diseases makes this book valuable for scientists and clinicians alike.

Bile acid research has attracted increasing attention from both basic scientists and clinical hepatologists over the last decade. Experimental studies have expanded our knowledge of the role of bile acids in liver disease, and well-designed clinical trials have documented beneficial effects of bile acid treatment for a number of hepatobiliary diseases.
Bile Acids in Liver Diseases, the proceedings of an International Falk Workshop held in Munich, January 1995, provides insights into current concepts in bile acid chemistry, bile acid synthesis and metabolism, and transport of...

In the last decade, some outstanding progress has been made in the field of neurogastroenterology, a term which has been introduced to account for the crucial role of the enteric, autonomic and central nervous system in the regulation of gastrointestinal functions in health and disease.
These proceedings of Falk Symposium No. 112 on Neurogastroenterology - From the Basics to the Clinics, held in Freiburg, Germany, on 21-22 June 1999, reviews and discusses the fast-growing knowledge in this field in order to initiate more interdiscliplinary discussions along with new research....

The gastrointestinal tract has a number of unique features. Its extensive surface is formed by a single layer of rapidly renewing cells, the intestinal epithelial cells. These cells are in contact with a number of other cell populations, including the largest part of the immune system, and with an excessive luminal antigen load, including vast numbers of bacteria. Furthermore two more organs, namely liver and pancreas, are part of the system. The rapid renewal of the epithelial layer, the interactions of different cell types, and the balance between cell proliferation and death, have been...

Beginning in 1970, the International Bile Acid Meeting has taken place every two years and each time new progress in our understanding of the complex role of bile acids in many metabolic processes of the liver and the intestine has been revealed by a selected group of leading scientists from all over the world.
Although originally mainly physiological data on bile acid synthesis and transport were emphasized, and later on also the therapeutic benefit of bile acids in gallstone disease and cholestasis was discovered, we have come now to the molecular biology and genetic era with major...

This book contains the proceedings of the XIIIth International Bile Acid Meeting (Falk Symposium 80), an official satellite meeting of the World Congress of Gastroenterology, held in San Diego, California, U.S.A., September 30--October 2, 1994. It begins with presentations of major advances in bile acid chemistry, biology and pharmacology. The new structure proposed for the mixed micelles present in bile is reviewed, as are the properties of new synthetic analogues of bile acids. The mechanisms by which bile acids interact with cell membranes are discussed in order to provide insight into the...

This book covers many aspects of diverticular disease, from new scientific knowledge to exchange of clinical experience. It provides much-needed information to basic scientists and clinicians alike on a subject that is rarely found on the agenda of meetings and symposia and where there is a paucity of scientific discussion. The up-to-date research findings in this book are at the highest scientific level.

This volume is the proceedings of the symposium 'Trends in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Therapy 1999' held in Vancouver, Canada, August 27-29, 1999, and sponsored by the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada and Axcan Pharma. It is the seventh international IBD symposium to be held in Canada and focuses on all areas of IBD therapy.Topics include: genetics; pathogenesis with reference to the role of autoimmunity, bacterial factors and neutrophil -- epithelial interactions; special clinical problems such as difficult diagnoses and challenges...

Despite recent advances, the pathogenesis and therapy of various forms of chronic inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract remains problematical. Especially threatening is the possible complication of the development of a malignant growth, but the role of the chronic inflammatory process in this is not known. Three examples are: H. pylori-induced gastritis is associated with gastric lymphomas and carcinomas; there is an increased incidence of intestinal T-cell lymphomas in tropical sprue; and chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, particularly ulcerative colitis,...