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Updated: Aug 30, 2025

Development of an Ethanol-induced Fibrotic Liver Model in Zebrafish to Study Progenitor Cell-mediated Hepatocyte Regeneration
Published on: May 13, 2016
[Reversal mechanism of hepatic fibrosis]
1Institute of Liver Diseases, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
Abstract:
There is an increasing histological clinical evidence that both hepatic fibrosis and some degree of cirrhosis reversal can improve prognosis. Hepatic fibrosis involves a variety of cells and steps, and its reversal mechanism is also very complex, mainly including the reduction of hepatocyte necrosis and regeneration, the apoptosis and inactivation of activated hepatic stellate cells, and the reversal of hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells and microvessels, restorative hepatic macrophages polarization and cell-to-cell interactions. Furthermore, the biochemical basis for reversal of hepatic fibrosis is decreased expression of matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors, up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinase activity, and increased degradation of extracellular matrix. However, at present, there are few studies on the clinicopathological mechanism of liver fibrosis reversal, and the key target groups of different etiologies with different degrees are still unclear, and the corresponding translational application research is lacking. Therefore, an in-depth and systematic understanding of the characteristics and mechanisms of hepatic fibrosis reversal can not only enrich the understanding of the natural history of hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis, but also provide reference for the development and clinical application of anti-hepatic fibrotic drugs.
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