©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Oct 8, 2016; 8(28): 1157-1168
Published online Oct 8, 2016. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v8.i28.1157
Published online Oct 8, 2016. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v8.i28.1157
Cirrhosis and autoimmune liver disease: Current understanding
Rodrigo Liberal, Charlotte R Grant, Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College London School of Medicine at King’s College Hospital, London SE 9RS, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Liberal R and Grant CR contributed to paper design, literature search, drafting and editing of the manuscript; both authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Correspondence to: Dr. Rodrigo Liberal, Institute of Liver Studies, King’s College London School of Medicine at King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS, United Kingdom. rodrigo.liberal@kcl.ac.uk
Telephone: +44-2032-993397 Fax: +44-2032-993760
Received: March 3, 2016
Peer-review started: March 7, 2016
First decision: April 15, 2016
Revised: July 22, 2016
Accepted: August 6, 2016
Article in press: August 8, 2016
Published online: October 8, 2016
Processing time: 209 Days and 10 Hours
Peer-review started: March 7, 2016
First decision: April 15, 2016
Revised: July 22, 2016
Accepted: August 6, 2016
Article in press: August 8, 2016
Published online: October 8, 2016
Processing time: 209 Days and 10 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: In chronic liver disease, including autoimmune liver diseases, perpetual liver injury leads to persistent inflammation, cell proliferation and the deposition of extracellular matrix proteins. If left untreated, this process eventually leads to the development of liver cirrhosis, characterised by the presence of fibrosis and nodular regeneration. Liver biopsy is currently the gold standard technique, but highly promising non-invasive methodology is under development.