Introduction: Prolonged liver injury results in tissue damage and replacement by extracellular matrix and fibrosis. Cirrhosis represents a leading cause of mortality worldwide and imposes a major financial burden on health-care systems. Fortunately, fibrogenesis has proven to be reversible if halted early, encouraging the development of novel anti-fibrotic agents that may accelerate histological restoration. Preclinical data have elucidated numerous potential therapeutic targets and many anti-fibrotic agents are currently at various stages of clinical research.Areas covered: The present review summarizes recent clinical data regarding anti-fibrotic drugs including monoclonal antibodies, targeted conjugates, and small molecule agents.Expert opinion: Although undeniable progress has been made in the development of anti-fibrotic agents in recent years, most data currently available are derived from preclinical and early clinical studies. The efficacy and safety of these agents will need to be corroborated by larger clinical trials, some of which are ongoing with results expected in the upcoming years. Combination therapy with agents targeting different pathways of fibrogenesis will also be of great interest for the future and will need to be explored in clinical trials.

中文翻译：

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用于治疗肝纤维化的新型靶向疗法。

简介：长时间的肝损伤会导致组织损伤，并被细胞外基质和纤维化所取代。肝硬化是世界范围内导致死亡的主要原因，并给医疗保健系统带来了重大的财务负担。幸运的是，如果早期停止，则纤维化作用已被证明是可逆的，这鼓励了新型抗纤维化剂的开发，这种抗纤维化剂可以加速组织学恢复。临床前数据阐明了许多潜在的治疗靶点，并且许多抗纤维化药物目前处于临床研究的各个阶段。涵盖的领域：本综述总结了有关抗纤维化药物的最新临床数据，包括单克隆抗体，靶向偶联物和小分子药物。专家意见：尽管近年来在抗纤维化剂的开发方面取得了不可否认的进展，但目前可获得的大多数数据来自临床前和早期临床研究。这些药物的疗效和安全性需要通过更大的临床试验来证实，其中一些试验仍在进行中，预计在未来几年内将获得结果。结合靶向纤维生成不同途径的药物的联合治疗在未来也将引起极大的兴趣，并且需要在临床试验中进行探索。