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Molecular Mechanisms and Potential New Therapeutic Drugs for Liver Fibrosis
Liver fibrosis is the pathological process of excessive extracellular matrix deposition after liver injury and is a precursor to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is essentially a wound healing response to liver tissue damage. Numerous studies have shown that hepatic stellate cells play...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8874120/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35222022 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.787748 |
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author | Wang, Fa-Da Zhou, Jing Chen, En-Qiang |
author_facet | Wang, Fa-Da Zhou, Jing Chen, En-Qiang |
author_sort | Wang, Fa-Da |
collection | PubMed |
description | Liver fibrosis is the pathological process of excessive extracellular matrix deposition after liver injury and is a precursor to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is essentially a wound healing response to liver tissue damage. Numerous studies have shown that hepatic stellate cells play a critical role in this process, with various cells, cytokines, and signaling pathways engaged. Currently, the treatment targeting etiology is considered the most effective measure to prevent and treat liver fibrosis, but reversal fibrosis by elimination of the causative agent often occurs too slowly or too rarely to avoid life-threatening complications, especially in advanced fibrosis. Liver transplantation is the only treatment option in the end-stage, leaving us with an urgent need for new therapies. An in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of liver fibrosis could identify new targets for the treatment. Most of the drugs targeting critical cells and cytokines in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis are still in pre-clinical trials and there are hardly any definitive anti-fibrotic chemical or biological drugs available for clinical use. In this review, we will summarize the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, focusing on the role of key cells, associated mechanisms, and signaling pathways, and summarize various therapeutic measures or drugs that have been trialed in clinical practice or are in the research stage. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8874120 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-88741202022-02-26 Molecular Mechanisms and Potential New Therapeutic Drugs for Liver Fibrosis Wang, Fa-Da Zhou, Jing Chen, En-Qiang Front Pharmacol Pharmacology Liver fibrosis is the pathological process of excessive extracellular matrix deposition after liver injury and is a precursor to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is essentially a wound healing response to liver tissue damage. Numerous studies have shown that hepatic stellate cells play a critical role in this process, with various cells, cytokines, and signaling pathways engaged. Currently, the treatment targeting etiology is considered the most effective measure to prevent and treat liver fibrosis, but reversal fibrosis by elimination of the causative agent often occurs too slowly or too rarely to avoid life-threatening complications, especially in advanced fibrosis. Liver transplantation is the only treatment option in the end-stage, leaving us with an urgent need for new therapies. An in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of liver fibrosis could identify new targets for the treatment. Most of the drugs targeting critical cells and cytokines in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis are still in pre-clinical trials and there are hardly any definitive anti-fibrotic chemical or biological drugs available for clinical use. In this review, we will summarize the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, focusing on the role of key cells, associated mechanisms, and signaling pathways, and summarize various therapeutic measures or drugs that have been trialed in clinical practice or are in the research stage. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-02-11 /pmc/articles/PMC8874120/ /pubmed/35222022 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.787748 Text en Copyright © 2022 Wang, Zhou and Chen. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Pharmacology Wang, Fa-Da Zhou, Jing Chen, En-Qiang Molecular Mechanisms and Potential New Therapeutic Drugs for Liver Fibrosis |
title | Molecular Mechanisms and Potential New Therapeutic Drugs for Liver Fibrosis |
title_full | Molecular Mechanisms and Potential New Therapeutic Drugs for Liver Fibrosis |
title_fullStr | Molecular Mechanisms and Potential New Therapeutic Drugs for Liver Fibrosis |
title_full_unstemmed | Molecular Mechanisms and Potential New Therapeutic Drugs for Liver Fibrosis |
title_short | Molecular Mechanisms and Potential New Therapeutic Drugs for Liver Fibrosis |
title_sort | molecular mechanisms and potential new therapeutic drugs for liver fibrosis |
topic | Pharmacology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8874120/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35222022 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.787748 |
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