Peptidyl arginine deiminase inhibitor effect on hepatic fibrogenesis in a CCl4 pre-clinical model of liver fibrosis.

Unlabelled: Having previously shown that levels of the citrullinated vimentin peptide VICM are raised in liver fibrosis in rats, we aimed to investigate whether inhibition of citrullination as measured by VICM levels could affect fibrogenesis.

Methods: Fibrogenesis was evaluated by quantitative histology and circulating levels of collagen type III in a carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) rat model of liver fibrosis for 6 weeks (n=40+10 untreated controls). The first treatment group (n=20) was treated exclusively with CCl4 for the duration of the study.