Chronic organ damage: Understanding fibrosis

Abstract

Chronic organ damage: Understanding fibrosis Fibrosis was once considered irreversible, resulting from chronic organ damage; Ken-Ichi Kobayashi from Notre Dame Seishin University tells us why the possibility of treatment to reverse the disease is gaining attention. Organ fibrosis is a common phenomenon observed in various organ failure states resulting from disease and aging. The most common examples are renal fibrosis in chronic kidney disease, liver fibrosis in cirrhosis, lung fibrosis in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and pancreatic fibrosis in chronic pancreatitis. The total number of patients with organ fibrosis in Japan is nearly 20 million, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is a ‘national disease.’ Until recently, fibrosis was considered to be the end result of chronic organ damage and an irreversible condition with a poor prognosis. In recent years, however, fibrosis has begun to be recognized as a reversible process, and the possibility of treatment is gaining attention. It is also becoming clear that fibrosis is caused by complex cellular and inter-organic networks rather than by specific organs, and therefore, common pathological mechanisms are thought to exist even in various types of fibrosis. However, the common pathological mechanism of fibrosis, especially fibrosis-attracting factors, is still an enigma.