Contemporary liver immunology and immunopathology: Obstacles and opportunities

Abstract

The relatively young science of immunology is just past its first centennial, and its detachment from microbiology was only 50 yr back. Since then remarkable progress has taken place in medical immunology, and hybrid disciplines have emerged: first neuroimmunology and, later, even osteoimmunology (1). The claim for liver immunology is amply justified by the role of the lymphoid liver as a constitutive part of the general immune system and in being the seat of several diseases because of particular immunological malfunctions (2,3). Indeed the liver, according to Knolle, Chapter 2, is a unique immunological organ. It is highly enriched in elements particular to the immune system, including cell systems with innate immune capacities such as Kupffer cells and sinusoidal epithelial cells, and cells participating in adaptive immune responses. © 2007 Humana Press Inc.