Immunopathogenesis of Liver Cirrhosis

Liver cirrhosis represents the end stage of chronic liver disease, characterized by excessive scar tissue (fibrosis/cirrhosis), intense inflammatory cell infiltration, and liver loss-of-function, leading to multiple organ failures. It is generally accepted that activation of hepatic stellate cells, the main fibrogenic cell type in the liver, is key to fibrosis and cirrhosis development and progression. Recent advances in the fields of liver physiology and immunology unraveled new pathways for hepatic stellate cell activation and highlighted the pivotal role for inflammation- and immune-cell-derived signals in liver fibrogenesis. As such, deciphering the complexity of the integrated signals seems to be the mandatory approach to identify therapeutic targets. Ultimately, the modulation of fibrogenic and immune cell abilities to sense and react to changes in their microenvironment may hold the key to controlling or even reversing liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.