The international interdisciplinary scientific meeting entitled "Liver-Brain Interface – Implications for Lifestyle-Related Diseases", organised by the Research Institute of MU-Varna within the framework of the MUVE-TEAM project, was held from 14th to 16th November in Varna. The event brought together eminent researchers from Bulgaria, Europe, the USA and Japan who presented the latest scientific developments on the bidirectional relationship between the liver and the brain - an area that has been rapidly gaining popularity in recent years due to its importance for modern preventive and personalised medicine.

"The relationship between liver and brain has been gaining popularity in recent years, and I am delighted that this is one of the pioneering events that has brought together researchers investigating this interaction," pointed out the Director of the Research Institute at MU-Varna, Prof. Dr. Anton Tonchev. According to him, the two-way exchange of signals is of great importance for the way, through which liver metabolism, our style of life, our habits, the food we consume, influence the brain and vice versa – the way, through which the brain regulates the liver to control the perception of this lifestyle.

The lectures delivered within the three-day programme were focused on the role of diet, Mediterranean dietary pattern, physical activities, inflammatory processes, epigenetics and new therapeutic strategies in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), and related cognitive and metabolic disorders. Scientists from the University of Texas at Austin (USA), Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) and Kanazawa University (Japan) were also among the international guests at the forum.

Presentation of innovative research by Bulgarian teams in the field of non-invasive diagnostics, regenerative medicine, the influence of oxidative stress, as well as outcomes of experimental models investigating the interface between metabolic dysfunction and cognitive behaviour were also on the agenda of the forum.

The conference was concluded with a discussion on the prospects for future international research and the development of integrated approaches in medicine that combine clinical, laboratory and behavioural scientific data.