The liver is of central importance to the entire organism due to its diverse functions in metabolism, its ability to detoxify and excrete, the hepatic formation and inactivation of mediators, and its involvement in non-specific defence mechanisms. Thus, extrahepatic manifestations of liver disease are often decisive for the disease course.
In the last few years, knowledge about interaction between the liver and other organs or systems - e.g. kidneys, GI tract, skeleton, endocrine, haematopoietic and nervous sytems - has increased considerably. Thus many extrahepatic manifestations of...

Cytokines are synthesized and secreted in the liver by Kupffer cells, and are important for inflammation processes, the non-specific immune response, and probably the destruction and removal of tumour cells. The production of signal substances such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin 1 and 6, and interferon alpha/beta is regulated by a complex set of pathways, which can also be modified by cellular mediators, e.g. prostaglandins, growth factors and cortico-steroids. Signal exchange between different cell types in the liver is important for the synthesis of acute phase proteins, liver...

Since the last International Bile Acid Meeting in San Diego in 1994, new advances have been made in the understanding of bile acid metabolism and transport. The cytotoxic as well as the therapeutic effects of specific bile acids have been further explored and the beneficial effects of ursodeoxycholic acid in various chronic cholestatic conditions have been substantiated. Much basic and clinical research has been conducted to unravel the underlying mechanisms of action.
This volume, the proceedings of Falk Symposium No. 93 (XIV International Bile Acid Meeting), held in...

Das Buch beschreibt das Symptom Aszites erstmals zusammen- fassend f}r verschiedene Erkrankungsgruppen und gibt gleich- zeitig entsprechende Handlungsanleitungen f}r Diagnostik und Therapie.

One of the prerequisites for survival is the ability of cells to maintain their volume. Thus, during the course of evolution cells have "learned" a variety of strategies to achieve volume homeostasis. This volume regulatory machinery involves regulation of both, cellular metabolism and cellular transport and is exploited by hormones and transmitters to regulate cellularfunction. This book to illustrates the complex interplay of cell volume regulatory mechanisms and cellular function in a variety of tissues. However, our knowledge is still far from being conclusive, and the present collection...

This volume comprises a series of original articles, updates and reviews on relevant topics in hepatology which were presented at a meeting in Freiburg im Breisgau to honour the 60th anniversary of Dr. Herbert Falk. Since 1967, Dr. Falk and the Falk Foundation have generously sponsored more than 40 congresses and symposia on liver diseases, held mostly in Freiburg, The Black Forest or in Basel, which have become milestones in the ex- change of scientific information in hepatology (see 'To Herbert Falk on his Sixtieth Birthday' in this volume). Many of these congresses and symposia have been...