Gut-Liver Interactions : Basic and Clinical Concepts

This book, the proceedings of the Falk Symposium No. 146 ‘Gut-Liver Interactions: Basic and Clinical Concepts’, held in Innsbruck, Austria, on March 11-12, 2005, brings together gastroenterologists and hepatologists both at a clinical and a basic scientific level. Topics have been structured in such a way to be of interest to both clinicians and basic scientists. The main focus of the book is to highlight the role of the immune system in gut and liver diseases and potential interactions of the gut and the liver respectively. Special emphasis is based on the importance of the gut flora in intestinal and also in liver diseases. The role of NOD2 is one of the very best examples demonstrating the importance, not only in inflammatory bowel diseases, but also diseases well beyond this barrier.

Such intense interactions between gastroenterologists and hepatologists, as shown through this book, might boost and stimulate scientific ideas and research in other unexpected areas.

The amount of information in the fields of gastroenterology and hepatology is dramatically increasing and the disciplines are drifting apart even though many clinical and scientific relevant issues need a very close interaction. In addition, scientific meetings are becoming more and more focused and therefore gastroenterologists and hepatologists are less frequently confronted together with challenging issues in their fields.

This book, the proceedings of the Falk Symposium No. 146 ‘Gut-Liver Interactions: Basic and Clinical Concepts’, held in Innsbruck, Austria, on March 11-12, 2005, brings together gastroenterologists and hepatologists both at a clinical and a basic scientific level. Topics have been structured in such a way to be of interest to both clinicians and basic scientists. The main focus of the book is to highlight the role of the immune system in gut and liver diseases and potential interactions of the gut and the liver respectively. Special emphasis is based on the importance of the gut flora in intestinal and also in liver diseases. The role of NOD2 is one of the very best examples demonstrating importance not only in inflammatory bowel diseases but also diseases well beyond this barrier.

One might hope that with a closer interaction between gastroenterologists and hepatologists in the future, beneficial therapies in either discipline might be more easily and rapidly introduced into the other field. Such intense interactions as shown through this book might boost and stimulate scientific ideas and research in other unexpected areas.