Fibrosis

Fibrosis is excessive deposition of extracellular matrix that replaces or distorts normal tissue. It can follow persistent injury and impair an organ’s structure and function.

Wound healing: The biological process that repairs damaged tissue through inflammation, cell growth, and extracellular matrix deposition. Fibrosis arises when wound-repair activity persists instead of resolving.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A chronic, progressive lung disease marked by scarring of lung tissue without an identified cause. It is a well-studied example of fibrosis that progressively limits organ function.
Liver biopsy: A procedure that removes a small sample of liver tissue for microscopic examination. Biopsy can reveal and grade liver scarring, though it samples only a small area.
Regeneration: The replacement of damaged cells or tissues with functional new tissue. Regeneration restores tissue more faithfully, whereas fibrosis replaces or distorts it with matrix.
Transforming growth factor beta: A family of signaling proteins that regulates cell growth, immune responses, and extracellular matrix production. This signaling pathway drives fibroblast activation and matrix production in many fibrotic diseases.
Liver cirrhosis: Advanced liver scarring that disrupts normal architecture and can impair liver function. Cirrhosis shows how extensive fibrosis can remodel an organ and obstruct blood flow.
Elastography: An imaging technique that estimates tissue stiffness by measuring its response to mechanical waves. Increased stiffness can help detect and stage fibrosis without obtaining tissue.
Scar: A region of fibrous connective tissue that forms after injury or disease. A scar is a localized outcome of repair; fibrosis describes excessive matrix accumulation more broadly.
Fibroblast: A connective-tissue cell that produces extracellular matrix and helps maintain tissue structure. Activated fibroblasts are major producers of the matrix that accumulates in fibrosis.
Systemic sclerosis: An autoimmune disease involving skin thickening and, in some cases, fibrosis of internal organs. It demonstrates fibrosis affecting multiple tissues alongside immune and vascular abnormalities.

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