The liver is centrally localized to metabolize and eliminate drugs and toxins attempting to get into the body via the intestines. The liver contains an incredible amount of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters and thereby protects the organism from potentially harmful substances. Without these enzymes and transporters drugs and environmental toxins could not be metabolised and excreted. Without the liver, the organism would accumulate these substances. The liver determines what reaches the body. Different conditions can affect the livers ability to detoxify drugs or toxins:

• Liver diseases can impair the activity of metabolising enzymes and transporters
• There is marked genetic variability in some of these proteins which can influence the risk of adverse events to drugs.
• Other drugs can up- or downregulate these proteins and lead to potentially dangerous drug interactions.

The physician prescribing drugs has to take into account all these possibilities.

While the main function of the liver is to render substances harmless, occasionally it creates toxic metabolites which can be harmful to the liver or other organs. Such events can be very dangereous and even lead to liver failure. Hepatotoxicity (events leading to liver damage) are a prime cause of liver failure and have led to the withdrawal of many drugs from the market.

The group of Professor Lauterburg investigates metabolism of drugs and the mechanisms which could lead to damage to the liver. Our aim is to better understand the role of these metabolic enzymes and transporters and thereby to make the application of medications more safe.