UCSF LIVER CENTER SEMINAR
Ansgar W. Lohse, MD
Professor of Medicine
Director and Chairman, I. Department of Medicine
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Germany
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Parnassus S-214
Autoimmunity and the Liver: Basic and Clinical Aspects
Immune regulation in the liver has many unique features. Under physiological conditions the liver induces immune tolerance. This tolerogenic potential of the liver, whose evolutionary roots and biology will be discussed, can be exploited therapeutically. This opens avenues for innovative immunotherapies for extra-hepatic immune diseases. Nonetheless, tolerance in the liver can be broken leading to immune-mediated liver diseases, most prominently autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Despite AIH being one of the first diseases for which randomized trials demonstrated effective therapies, major challenges in diagnosis and management remain. Diligence in diagnostic work-up and individualized approaches in immunosuppressive therapy and long-term management can improve both life expectancy and quality of life in affected patients.
