Figure 1.

Relevance of cell death mechanisms in liver fibrosis. Dependent on specific intracellular pathways, different modes of cell death have been characterized, termed apoptosis (programmed cell death), necrosis (unprogrammed cell death in response to injury) and, more recently, necroptosis (programmed form of necrotic cell death). In the liver, cell death occurs in different parenchymal and non-parenchymal cell populations, with distinct influence on the outcome of disease progression, such as fibrosis (extracellular matrix deposition). In the paper by Peng et al., β-carotene supplementation prevented apoptosis in a rat model of ethanol-induced liver injury, thereby alleviating alcoholic liver disease in this model.