This book, the proceedings of Falk Symposium 100, Gut and the Liver', held in Freiburg, Germany, 29-31 May 1997, comprehensively reviews the physiological and pathophysiological interactions between the intestine and the liver as well as between intestinal and hepatic diseases. Apart from the basic aspects of the intestinal microflora and the immune system of the gut, gastrointestinal permeability and translocation as well as the contribution of the intestine and the intestinal bacteria to the metabolism of bile acids, amino acids and drugs are discussed. In addition, experimental as well as clinical data demonstrating the significance of gut-derived bacterial toxins for the development of liver diseases and the effect of liver diseases on gastrointestinal functions are discussed. The major aim of this book, therefore, is to highlight the interactions between gut and liver at the molecular level as well as in clinical disease.

Although the first description of patients with what we now call Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis was published well before 1900, both disorders seem to be diseases of the twentieth century. At the very start of the twenty-first century, it therefore seems appropriate to look back and at the same time look forward and to assess what knowledge has been gained during the last 100 years and in what direction research and thereby clinical practice will go in the future. This book, the proceedings of Falk Symposium No. 111 held in Freiburg, Germany, on June 19-20 1999, contains contributions from experienced senior scientists on the state of the art in pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment, together with unpublished and new findings from young researchers. Basic scientists and clinicians are thereby involved in an exchange of information which will lead to new directions for future research and clinical management of inflammatory bowel diseases.