Mathematical modeling of liver fibrosis

Fibrosis is the formation of excessive fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue, which occurs in reparative process or in response to inflammation. Fibrotic diseases are characterized by abnormal excessive deposition of fibrous proteins, such as collagen, and the disease is most commonly prog...

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Main Authors: Avner Friedman, Wenrui Hao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIMS Press 2017-01-01
Series:Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2017010
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author Avner Friedman
Wenrui Hao
author_facet Avner Friedman
Wenrui Hao
author_sort Avner Friedman
collection DOAJ
description Fibrosis is the formation of excessive fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue, which occurs in reparative process or in response to inflammation. Fibrotic diseases are characterized by abnormal excessive deposition of fibrous proteins, such as collagen, and the disease is most commonly progressive, leading to organ disfunction and failure. Although fibrotic diseases evolve in a similar way in all organs, differences may occur as a result of structure and function of the specific organ. In liver fibrosis, the gold standard for diagnosis and monitoring the progression of the disease is biopsy, which is invasive and cannot be repeated frequently. For this reason there is currently a great interest in identifying non-invasive biomarkers for liver fibrosis. In this paper, we develop for the first time a mathematical model of liver fibrosis by a system of partial differential equations. We use the model to explore the efficacy of potential and currently used drugs aimed at blocking the progression of liver fibrosis. We also use the model to develop a diagnostic tool based on a combination of two biomarkers.
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spelling doaj-art-3b1ace8af398483e9593cc21703a3f502025-01-24T02:39:32ZengAIMS PressMathematical Biosciences and Engineering1551-00182017-01-0114114316410.3934/mbe.2017010Mathematical modeling of liver fibrosisAvner Friedman0Wenrui Hao1Mathematical Biosciences Institute & Department of Mathematics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USADepartment of Mathematics, The Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USAFibrosis is the formation of excessive fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue, which occurs in reparative process or in response to inflammation. Fibrotic diseases are characterized by abnormal excessive deposition of fibrous proteins, such as collagen, and the disease is most commonly progressive, leading to organ disfunction and failure. Although fibrotic diseases evolve in a similar way in all organs, differences may occur as a result of structure and function of the specific organ. In liver fibrosis, the gold standard for diagnosis and monitoring the progression of the disease is biopsy, which is invasive and cannot be repeated frequently. For this reason there is currently a great interest in identifying non-invasive biomarkers for liver fibrosis. In this paper, we develop for the first time a mathematical model of liver fibrosis by a system of partial differential equations. We use the model to explore the efficacy of potential and currently used drugs aimed at blocking the progression of liver fibrosis. We also use the model to develop a diagnostic tool based on a combination of two biomarkers.https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2017010network of liver fibrosispartial differential equations modelinghepatocytes stellate cellskupffer cellshyalluronic acid
spellingShingle Avner Friedman
Wenrui Hao
Mathematical modeling of liver fibrosis
Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering
network of liver fibrosis
partial differential equations modeling
hepatocytes stellate cells
kupffer cells
hyalluronic acid
title Mathematical modeling of liver fibrosis
title_full Mathematical modeling of liver fibrosis
title_fullStr Mathematical modeling of liver fibrosis
title_full_unstemmed Mathematical modeling of liver fibrosis
title_short Mathematical modeling of liver fibrosis
title_sort mathematical modeling of liver fibrosis
topic network of liver fibrosis
partial differential equations modeling
hepatocytes stellate cells
kupffer cells
hyalluronic acid
url https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2017010
work_keys_str_mv AT avnerfriedman mathematicalmodelingofliverfibrosis
AT wenruihao mathematicalmodelingofliverfibrosis