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World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2014; 20(23): 7452-7460
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7452
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7452
Inhibitory effects of rapamycin on the different stages of hepatic fibrosis
Yun Jeung Kim, Eaum Seok Lee, Seok Hyun Kim, Heon Young Lee, Byung Seok Lee, Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon 301-721, South Korea
Seung Moo Noh, Department of Surgery, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon 301-721, South Korea
Dae Young Kang, Department of Pathology, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Daejeon 301-721, South Korea
Author contributions: Kim YJ wrote the manuscript; Lee ES, Kim SH advised intellectual content; Lee HY, Noh SM, Kang DY and Lee BS critically reviewed the work.
Supported by Grants from YUHAN Cooperation
Correspondence to: Byung Seok Lee, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, 640 Daesa-Dong, Jung-Gu, Daejeon 301-721, South Korea. gie001@cnuh.co.kr
Telephone: +82-42-2807163 Fax: +82-42-2575753
Received: October 10, 2013
Revised: February 24, 2014
Accepted: April 2, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Revised: February 24, 2014
Accepted: April 2, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Liver cirrhosis is a serious disease causing significant mortality, but a curative treatment has not yet been developed. Therefore, there is great interest within the field of drug development in developing agents capable of inhibiting the progression of hepatic fibrosis. Rapamycin is an immunosuppressive agent that is also expected to attenuate the progression of liver fibrosis. We therefore aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects of rapamycin in the early and late stages of fibrosis, with the goal of contributing to the development of novel fibrosis treatments.