SDC2 and Hepatic fibrosis: As shown in Figure 7 A and B, the investigation of the p17 co-receptors reveals a trend indicating that while protein expression of syndecan-2 did not change significantly during the progression of liver fibrosis (from mild to severe irrespective of viral status), that of CXCR2, which occurs primarily in neutrophils and along the hepatic sinusoids (inset of Figure 7 C), was greatly reduced in liver biopsies obtained from patients with severe fibrosis (Figure 7 C), thus confirming the in vitro observations that during the activation of HSCs the expression of CXCR2 is down-regulated.