CCl4-induced liver fibrosis mouse model

The liver fibrosis mouse model was established referring to the previous report [32]. C57BL/6 male mice of 6-8 weeks old and 20±2 g in weight were supplied by the Experimental Animal Center of Hubei University of Medicine. Each mouse was treated with 2 ml of CCl₄ (Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Catalog# 10006480)/olive oil (1:1, v/v) per kg body weight by intraperitoneal injection twice for 6 weeks. Mice injected with equal volume of olive oil were performed as control.

All the mice used in this study were under human care and provided with enough food and water. When it came to the end of each experimental point, those mice were euthanatized with CO₂. All the experiments were approved and supervised by the Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee of Renmin Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine.