The discovery, published in PLoS Online on Dec. 26, opens the door to treating and curing conditions that lead to excessive tissue scarring such as viral hepatitis, fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, pulmonary fibrosis, scleroderma and burns.
By blocking a protein linked to overproduction of scar tissue, researchers stopped the progression of fibrosis in mice and reversed some of the cell damage.
"Six years ago, we showed a way to prevent or stop the excessive scarring in animal models," said lead researcher Martina Buck, Ph.D., UCSD assistant professor of medicine. "Our latest finding proves that we can actually reverse the damage."
Worldwide, about 800,000 people die each year from liver cirrhosis which currently has no treatment.
Excessive tissue repair in chronic liver disease induced by viral, toxic, immunologic and metabolic disorders all result in excessive scar tissue, and could benefit from therapy developed from the UCSD research.
