Immune-mediated liver injury

Immune mechanisms play a critical pathogenetic role in the majority of liver diseases, and are of crucial importance in particular in infectious and autoimmune disease affecting the liver. In addition to the classical infectious diseases of the liver such as viral hepatitis B and C, other infectious agents and in particular parasites, often have the liver as their main target. The predilection of the liver for infectious processes is likely to at least be partly due to its unique immunological milieu. Understanding the basic mechanisms of liver immunology and their involvement in immune-mediated clinical disease of the liver was the aim of the EASL Monothematic Conference “Immune-mediated Liver Injury” held in Hamburg, Germany, December 4–6th 2008. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions of this conference.