Published online Sep 7, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i33.4835
Peer-review started: July 12, 2019
First decision: July 22, 2019
Revised: July 24, 2019
Accepted: August 7, 2019
Article in press: August 7, 2019
Published online: September 7, 2019
Processing time: 60 Days and 20.3 Hours
Liver fibrosis is the common pathological basis of all chronic liver diseases, and is the necessary stage for the progression of chronic liver disease to cirrhosis. As one of pathogenic factors, inflammation plays a predominant role in liver fibrosis via communication and interaction between inflammatory cells, cytokines, and the related signaling pathways. Damaged hepatocytes induce an increase in pro-inflammatory factors, thereby inducing the development of inflammation. In addition, it has been reported that inflammatory response related signaling pathway is the main signal transduction pathway for the development of liver fibrosis. The crosstalk regulatory network leads to hepatic stellate cell activation and proinflammatory cytokine production, which in turn initiate the fibrotic response. Compared with the past, the research on the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis has been greatly developed. However, the liver fibrosis mechanism is complex and many pathways involved need to be further studied. This review mainly focuses on the crosstalk regulatory network among inflammatory cells, cytokines, and the related signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory liver diseases. Moreover, we also summarize the recent studies on the mechanisms underlying liver fibrosis and clinical efforts on the targeted therapies against the fibrotic response.
Core tip: Liver fibrosis is a chronic liver lesion with inflammation. Reciprocally, increased inflammatory response exacerbates the severity of liver disease. Clinical data reveal that an aberrant increase of inflammatory cytokines is highly correlated with poor outcome of patients with liver fibrosis. However, the mechanism underlying liver fibrosis is not completely understood. It is urgently needed to enrich the knowledge of liver fibrosis. This review focuses on the role of inflammation in liver fibrosis and discusses the crosstalk network involving immune cells, cytokines, and the related signaling pathways.