FloNight [Public domain] from Wikimedia CommonsFibrosis is the accumulation of tough scar tissue; in the liver, it can impair function, eventually leading to liver failure. Liver fibrosis can occur in both chronic and acute liver diseases, including hepatitis, cirrhosis and cancer. The only effective treatment for fibrosis is to remove the underlying cause of the damage, which may not be possible in many cases of liver disease, leaving those affected with no effective therapies. But new results from rodent studies suggest that ghrelin, a naturally occurring gut hormone, has antifibrotic effects in the liver and may be a useful treatment for fibrosis in humans.
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