ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to understand the essence of inflammation and fibrosis. The process of tissue repair can lead to two different outcomes, depending on the duration and intensity of the injury. In organs that can repair themselves to a certain extent, transient or small injuries lead to healing, but prolonged, repetitive, or extensive injuries cause fibrosis. Many signaling molecules activate and inhibit immune cells and fibroblasts, and these cells have many possible states. The main circuit property, bistability, is worth remembering. It can potentially explain other medical situations in which there is a limited time window to prevent irreversible outcomes. The slow timescale found in the model is due to the fact that the dynamics near the separatrix approach an unstable fixed point. Evidence for reversal of long-standing fibrosis has been accumulating, revolutionizing thinking in the field.
