This book is the proceedings of the 18th International Bile Acid Meeting, held as the Falk Symposium 141 in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 18-19, 2004. The International Bile Acid Meetings have become some of the most important meetings in the bile acid field worldwide since Herbert Falk decided to sponsor these Symposia in biannual sequence in 1970. The 17 International Bile Acid Meetings in the past have been a great stimulus for new ideas and methods as well as the development of therapeutic applications of bile acids. They have always been a forum where basic scientists and clinicians interact. Many novel results of bile acid research were first presented at these meetings. The meeting in Stockholm again attracted a large number of basic and clinical scientists interested in bile acid and biliary research from all over the world.


Knowledge about the regulation of bile acid synthesis, bile acid transport and enterohepatic circulation in health and in disease has increased considerably during recent years. Accordingly, bile acid research is alive as ever. A new chapter of bile acid research was opened by the finding that bile acids are ligands of nuclear receptors which regulate synthesis, metabolism and transport of bile acids and steroids. A large part of the book is devoted to these topics.


The 18th International Bile Acid Meeting was again a truly interdisciplinary symposium at the highest scientific level. Its participants enjoyed hearing the latest reports on bile acid research in the city where so many seminal studies on bile acids were performed. It is hoped that the readers of this book will share the enjoyment.