title: Animal Models for Fibrotic Liver Diseases: What We Have, What We Need, and What Is under Development.
abstract: Liver fibrosis is part of the wound-healing response to liver damage of various origins and represents a major health problem. Although our understanding of the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis has grown considerably over the last 20 years, effective antifibrotic therapies are still lacking. The use of animal models is crucial for determining mechanisms underlying initiation, progression, and resolution of fibrosis and for developing novel therapies. To date, no animal model can recapitulate all the hepatic and extra-hepatic features of liver disease. In this review, we will discuss the current rodent models of liver injuries. We will then focus on the available ways to target specifically particular compounds of fibrogenesis and on the new models of liver diseases like the humanized liver mouse model.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bénédicte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Delire
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium ; Department of Gastroenterology, Saint-Luc Academic Hospital and Institute of Clinical Research, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stärkel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique (IREC), Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Leclercq
keywords: Animal models; Cell tracking; Fibrosis; Hepatic stellate cell; Liver