Centre for Liver, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (CLDS)
Research programme
Mission
The mission of the programme is to define the molecular basis of liver, digestive and metabolic diseases, and to
develop new treatment strategies.
Research Area
A common denominator in liver, digestive and metabolic diseases is the disruption of the ‘metabolic flow’ of endogenous
and exogenous compounds. Disruption can occur at the interorgan, intercellular and intracellular flow levels.
Disturbed metabolic flow exposes cells, in particular liver and intestinal epithelial cells, to abnormal (increased or decreased)
levels of these compounds or their metabolites. This can cause cell malfunction or cell death and may result
in organ failure and disease at the level of the whole organ. The liver and intestine are functionally coupled organs that
are involved in the metabolism, processing and subsequent elimination of a vast number of dietary components and
drugs from the body.
Research aims
sub-programme 1, Mechanisms and treatment of metabolic
disease.
The aim of sub-programme 1 is to understand, diagnose, and treat inborn and acquired liver and intestinal
diseases. This will be achieved through an integrated basic and clinical research approach at a molecular level
into the regulation of intracellular and transmembrane transport, and into the metabolic pathways of endogenous,
therapeutic and dietary compounds in the various cell populations of the liver and intestine.
sub-programme 2, Intestinal function and integrity
The aim of sub-programme 2 is to elucidate the genetic and
molecular basis of intestinal function (e.g. absorption, transport) and integrity (e.g. barrier function). This is done by
means of integrated basic and clinical research on host genetic predispositions and environmental factors, e.g. nutrition
and inflammation, which are involved in intestinal disorders. The focus was on celiac disease, inflammatory bowel
diseases and intestinal function during liver diseases. By adding this strong sub-programme on intestinal function and
integrity (see Sections 5.4 - 5.7), the CLDS programme included both the liver and intestine, the main organs involved
in metabolism, which enabled more thorough understanding of their coordinated functions in metabolism, processing
and excretion of dietary components and drugs.
Website of participating Discipline Groups
Pediatrics
GastroEnterology and Hepatology
Cell Biology
Contact
Programme leaders
Name: Prof.Dr. H.J. Verkade
e-mail: Prof.H.J. Verkade
Name: Dr. S.C.D. van Ijzendoorn
e-mail: Dr. S.C.D. van Ijzendoorn
Secretariat
Name: Mrs H. Rozema-Haaksema
Phone: +31 (0)50 363 2879
e-mail: Hilde Rozema-Haaksema
Publication Report '10