Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) acts as an anti-fibrotic cytokine in two distinct models of experimental liver fibrosis

Aims: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic chemokine-like inflammatory cytokine which has been implicated in various chronic inflammatory diseases. Although a contribution of MIF is proposed during liver injury, its role during chronic liver injury and hepatic fibrogenesis has not yet been systematically investigated. Therefore, we compared MIF–/– with wild-type mice in two independent models of experimental liver fibrosis. Methods: Liver fibrosis was induced by injection of CCl4 (6 weeks) or TAA (6 weeks) in MIF–/– mice and wild-type mice. Fibrosis was assessed by staging of histology a…