A conference on Hepatic Inflammation and Immunity, to be held January 17-19, 1999 in Galveston, Texas, will bring together investigators from a variety of disciplines to focus on basic immunologic mechanisms in the liver and their roles in health and disease. The conference is relevant because infectious and neoplastic diseases of the liver account for substantial morbidity and mortality on a worldwide basis. The ability of a number of different viruses to establish persistent infections within the liver may well reflect unique aspects of the immune system in this organ. For example, hepatitis C virus (HCV) currently infects about 1.8 percent of the American people (approximately 3.8 million persons) and efforts to develop better methods for control of this chronic infection will be dependent upon a better understanding of immunologic mechanisms that are active within the liver. This meeting will address this issue in a multidisciplinary fashion, reviewing recent developments concerning T cell activation and destruction within the liver, the role of the liver in oral tolerance, and current under- standing of the immune responses to a broad array of infectious agents invading the liver. The interplay of the immune response and production of cytokines on liver cell regeneration and stellate cell activation will be considered as a common final pathway to chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. Thus, the goal of the 2.5-day conference is to develop a heightened understanding of the mechanisms underlying the immune responses to multiple infectious agents within this organ, and to identify common themes that will allow a consensus to be developed concerning future directions for research. We seek to establish a state-of-the-art view of this field across a diversity of diseases. The first day will have sessions focusing on """"""""The Liver in Health and Disease"""""""" and """"""""Immunobiology of the Liver."""""""" The second day will focus on """"""""The Liver and Immunologic Tolerance"""""""" and """"""""The Immune Response to Viral Infections of the Liver."""""""" The final day will deal with """"""""Parasitic and Bacterial Infections of the Liver"""""""" and a Roundtable Discussion of the clinical implications of information presented at the conference. We anticipate 100-150 scientists from throughout the world will attend this meeting, which should be of value to clinicians and basic scientists, as well as to students and postdoctoral fellows.
| Bertolino, P; Klimpel, G; Lemon, S M (2000) Hepatic inflammation and immunity: a summary of a conference on the function of the immune system within the liver. Hepatology 31:1374-8 |
