title: The immunology of fibrosis.
abstract: Fibrosis is the production of excessive amounts of connective tissue, i.e., scar formation, in the course of reactive and reparative processes. Fibrosis develops as a consequence of various underlying diseases and presents a major diagnostically and therapeutically unsolved problem. In this review, we postulate that fibrosis is always a sequela of inflammatory processes and that the many different causes of fibrosis all channel into the same final stereotypical pathways. During the inflammatory phase, both innate and adaptive immune mechanisms are operative. This concept is exemplified by fibrotic diseases that develop as a consequence of tissue damage, primary inflammatory diseases, fibrotic alterations induced by foreign body implants, "spontaneous" fibrosis, and tumor-associated fibrotic changes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Experimental Pathophysiology and Immunology, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. georg.wick@i-med.ac.at
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wick
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grundtman
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mayerl
authors.forename: Thomas-Florian
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Wimpissinger
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feichtinger
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zelger
authors.forename: Roswitha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sgonc
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolfram
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D054338:Cell Transdifferentiation / Q000276:immunology; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D005355:Fibrosis; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D058628:Myofibroblasts / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*