The Liver as the Center of the Internal Defence System of the Body

Dear Colleagues,

The liver, as the largest internal organ of the body, is located between the external alimentary system and the systemic circulation. On the one hand, it has to defend the organism from the dangers contained in food by eliminating them from the portal blood before they can reach the systemic circulation. On the other hand, the liver plays a central role in mounting a defensive response to those potentially noxious agents which reach the body from other routes by closely interacting with the bone marrow through the production of acute-phase cytokines and chemokines. The liver is the central organ of the acute-phase reaction, which is a central mechanism of defense that acts in several ways. Under such conditions, an increase in liver volume occurs, indicating that during an emergency (acute-phase) situation, one of the main functions of the liver—the synthesis of proteins involved in increasing the clearance capacity of foreign material from the circulation, such as those of the complement cascade and of those proteins of the coagulation system—is massively activated. While the first aims (opsonization) to increase the uptake of foreign material by the cells of the reticuloendothelial system in the liver, the proteins of the coagulation system are crucial for the formation of the “provisional clot” not only in cases of skin damage but also in the different cases of damage taking place in different organs, e.g., those caused by hypoxia. A quick activation of the clotting system, followed by the deposition of fibrin, fibronectin, and other proteins are crucial as a form of “first aid” to subsequently allow elimination of debris and repair of damaged tissue. The interaction of the endocrine system and the liver under such conditions is of great interest.

Prof. Dr. Giuliano Ramadori
Guest Editor

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• clearance of: (a) bacteria and viruses, (b) particulate matter, (c) xenobiotics, and (d) aged erythrocytes and cellular debris
• control of formation of the cellular components of the blood under normal and emergency situations
• control of the production of the non-cellular parts of the blood: albumin, complement proteins, and coagulation proteins
• control of blood pressure under normal and emergency situations
• the endocrine system and the liver under normal and acute-phase conditions