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This book describes the latest advances concerning the molecular mechanisms of and therapeutic strategies for alcohol- and non-alcohol-related digestive diseases. Alcohol abuse causes not only liver injury but can harm various organs, resulting in esophageal and colorectal cancers, GERD, pancreatitis, etc. Similar to alcoholic abuse, metabolic syndrome based on obesity and diabetes is also strongly associated with the development of various digestive diseases. Although these diseases may be differentiated by the presence or absence of alcohol intake, the pathologic findings and pathogenesis reveal a number of similarities. This volume covers clinical and basic approaches for esophageal, gastric, hepatic, colorectal and pancreatic diseases associated with alcohol abuse and metabolic syndrome; further, it discusses the roles of microbiota, oxidative stress, and apoptosis, the critical factors causing alcoholic and metabolic digestive diseases. Also, it showcases new pathological and therapeutic perspectives in gastric and pancreatic cancers. Alcoholic/Non-Alcoholic Digestive Diseases will provide invaluable information for doctors specializing in gastroenterology and hepatology and researchers seeking new research on digestive diseases based on alcohol consumption and obesity. ​

This book, which is entitled as Renal Failure: Diagnosis, Management and Potential Complications, introduces the advanced topics regarding renal failure including manifold findings of physiologic, pathophysiologic and clinical aspects in the kidney. The kidney plays a crucial physiologic role in the regulation of urinary formation, fluid balance, nutrition metabolism, blood pressure and other aspects in the living body. Renal failure is a condition of a decline or loss of kidney function due to deficiency of functioning nephrons. Acute renal failure is a syndrome, which is characterized by acute decline or loss of kidney function due to temporary disfunctioning or blocking of nephrons. Acute renal failure is a reversible condition and is a secondary manifestation, a complication of another underlying critical illness. Chronic renal failure is a condition of slow, gradual decline of kidney function due to irreversible destruction of nephrons. This book provides recent information concerning acute and chronic renal failure in clinical aspects, and is constituted in five chapters.

This volume has gathered together some of the world's experts on cell death in liver diseases, covering topics on a variety of types of liver injury. Specifically, the chapters of this volume describe drug and virus-mediated hepatocyte injury, alcohol, lipid and bile acid-induced hepatocyte injury in addition to ischemia-reperfusion-mediated liver injury. The authors link these different types of liver injury to the commonly associated liver inflammation, fibrosis and tumorigenesis. Other topics explored include the various forms of cell death and cell survival pathways that have been identified in the liver, such as apoptosis, necroptosis, pryoptosis and autophagy. This book, along with its companion volume, Molecules, Systems and Signaling in Hepatic Cell Death, provides a thorough and comprehensive discussion on the topic of cell death and liver disease. Cellular Injury in Liver Diseases is an essential addition to the Cell Death in Biology and Diseases series and will appeal to scientists, clinicians and those doing research for drug discovery.

This book helps scientists, clinicians and other interested individuals understand recent clinical advances and challenges for the future. It covers many basic aspects of the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis C, HCV infections in particular populations, approaches to therapy, and prevention and control of HCV Infection. The book provides a succinct review of the large amount of data generated by multiple groups over the past two decades that has revealed the natural history of HCV infection. Similarly, it summarizes current understanding of the origins of HCV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhosis and hepatic fibrosis. Extra-hepatic manifestation and metabolic disorders related to HCV infection are described. In this volume, these clinically important aspects of HCV infection are comprehensively described. Highlights are description of newly developed direct- acting antivirals. The authors represent a worldwide distribution of leaders in the field reflecting the global nature of HCV infection. Based on recent data concerning the genetic- and geographical diversity of HCV, and increased global disease burden of HCV infection, challenges for global control of HCV infections are described.

This volume is composed of chapters that review important fundamental aspects of HCV biology and disease pathogenesis including, for example, the discovery and identification of the HCV genome, early virus-cell interactions including identification of various cellular receptors, HCV gene expression studied using the HCV replicon system, identification and characterization of HCV structural- and non-structural HCV proteins, HCV replication in cultured cells, and host factors involved in viral replication. This volume also contains chapters dealing with immunity to HCV infection and pathogenesis. This is particularly important in understanding hepatitis C because HCV infection alone is not cell lytic. Mechanisms underlying the persistent nature of HCV infection are also discussed in these chapters. Many of the authors published articles that were listed among the “top 10 papers” published in the 24 years since HCV was discovered in 1989. Their citations are above 1,000 (Web of Science). The authors describe the background and significance of their contributions to the field in the context of findings from other research groups.

This volume examines the current state of free radical biology as it impacts on hepatic disorders. It takes a thorough look at the relationship of oxidative stress in acute and chronic disease and takes into account factors like: redox biomarkers; antioxidant defense and protection; cell signaling, mutations; oxidative damage involving lipids, proteins and nucleic acids; membrane trafficking, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, alterations in immunological function and toxicology and hypoxia. Studies on Hepatic Disorders, the latest volume in the Oxidative Stress in Basic Research and Clinical Practice series, provides a comprehensive look at liver topics. It is organized into four sections, each one thoroughly covering its topic and consisting of chapters written by recognized field leaders. Section One, covers basic principles including redox signaling, antioxidant defenses, nitric oxide, oxidative mechanisms in senescence and regeneration and the detection of oxidative stress. Section Two, explores Pathophysiology. It ranges from cell damage to fibrogenic response as broken out in chapters on hepatocellular injury, mitochondrial damage, unfolded protein response and autophagy, inflammation, ischemia-reperfusion injury and finally, fibrogenesis. Sections Three and Four cover specific diseases and cancer, respectively. Most of the chapters focus on diseases including acute failure, alcoholic disease, viral hepatitis, iron overload, autoimmune disease, Wilson's disease and more, while the chapters on cancer round out the book.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV), a major causative agent of chronic liver disease, is spread throughout the world and around 170 million people are persistently infected. In this volume, world-leading experts in the field of HCV research have compiled the most recent scientific advances to provide a comprehensive and very timely overview of the various facets of HCV. The book starts with a discussion of the possible origin of HCV and its spread among the human population. The focus of the subsequent chapters is on available cell culture and in vivo models before shifting to the molecular and cellular principles underlying the viral replication cycle. These chapters are complemented by insightful descriptions of the innate and adaptive immune responses to HCV as well as the virus-associated pathogenesis. Finally, the development of antiviral therapies, which is closely linked with progress in basic research, and the implementation of those therapies into present and future daily clinical practice are highlighted.

Heart Failure (HF) is the final and common pathway of all cardiovascular diseases. Heart Failure: Bench to Bedside helps address a significant need to develop new paradigms and to identify novel therapeutic targets for this pervasive disease. An authoritative contribution to the field, this book provides a detailed description of new findings and emerging methodologies, as well as a critical clinical evaluation of the complex HF syndrome and future therapies. Heart Failure: Bench to Bedside includes a primer on gene profiling and bioenergetics of the normal heart and a discussion of the molecular, genetic, biochemical and cellular techniques critical to understanding HF. Further chapters discuss cardiac remodeling, oxidative stress, and alterations in other organs and systems that are often associated with HF. This book thoughtfully evaluates current and forthcoming diagnostic techniques and therapies, pharmaceutical and pharmacogenomic-based individualized medicine, gene and cell-based therapies, and the search for new frontiers. Heart Failure: Bench to Bedside presents a clear view of up-to-date approaches to clinical diagnosis and treatment, as well as offering insightful critiques of original and creative scientific thoughts on post-genomic HF research.

Mitochondria are organelles in each cell outside the nucleus and are the energy source of all cells. As such, they are crucial to the healthy functioning of cells. Recent research has shown that mitochondrial dysfunction underlies a broad spectrum of disease, from maternally inherited genetic disorders to metabolism defects, aging, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Lou Gehrig's disease. This book brings together top researchers whose work in examining the pathophysiologic processes will lead to new strategies for prevention and treatment.