Fibrosis is scarring. Something was damaged, and the body replaced it with scar tissue. He replaced it. That is, the scar does not bring any benefit. He just plugs the hole.
The liver also produces such scars. Especially from alcohol or a viral infection.
After liver damage, fibrosis will not happen the day after tomorrow. This will take months and years.
There are, of course, exceptions. It is a veno-occlusive liver disease and blockage of the biliary tract. With such sores, fibrosis develops quickly. It's not entirely clear why, but it happened. We have already discussed this with you in the article. about liquid in the stomach.
At the very beginning, the fibrosis is quite gentle and may resolve. But if this business is delayed, then everything will end in cirrhosis. No one knows exactly at what stage and why fibrosis becomes irreversible. Sometimes it happens that it seems that cirrhosis begins, and the liver then for some reason returns to normal.
On this basis, scientists have even developed some kind of experimental drugs that could reverse cirrhosis, but so far none of these drugs have been officially approved.
Collagen
By itself, fibrosis in the liver is made up of proteins like collagen. Yes, the very collagen that many would like to put into their wrinkles on the face.
In the liver, collagen is part of the capsule, maintains the blood vessels in a suspended state and does not allow the organ to spread like jelly at all.
That is, collagen should be in the liver and normal. But with fibrosis, it will be 3-10 times higher than normal there.
Ito cells
Very interesting cells trigger fibrosis. They are called stellate cells or Ito cells.
Ito cells were named after the Japanese scientist Toshio Ito, who studied them.
Stellate cells store not only fat, but, for example, vitamin A. About 40 to 70% of all vitamin A in our body is stored in these cells.
At some point when the liver is damaged, stellate cells go crazy and trigger fibrosis.
It is important to understand here that scar tissue in the liver begins to form only if its own connective tissue around the liver cells for some reason has melted. That is, the scar replaces what is missing.
Stellate cells not only make scars, but can literally choke the liver. They contract like muscles and work as little strangleholds.
From cirrhosis, the liver shrivels like raisins. So the liver, which looks like dried raisins, becomes so due to the small strangleholds that strangle it.
The unhappy liver tries to escape from its own scars, swells up in knots, but only makes it worse for itself.
Here's a sad story. So the fibrosis that someone finds on elastometry is a serious thing.
