Organotropism

The term organotropism (or organotropy , adjectivally organotropic , from Greek: organon = tool; trop = turn, turn) means in biology and medicine that something is "directed at certain organs or has an effect", i.e. an affinity to these tissues or organs of the body . Medicines, hormones or even microorganisms often have an organotropism. Examples are also the tropism of viruses such as the hepatitis B virus , which can be found mainly in the liver , and the bacterium Helicobacter pylori , which affects the gastric mucosa, among other things . The hormone erythropoietin is mainly produced in the kidneys and works in the bone marrow. Here it stimulates the formation of red blood cells ( erythropoiesis ).

The settlements ( metastases ) of malignant tumors are also often organotropic. For example, prostate cancer preferentially metastasizes to the bones.