Moreover, miR-454, a target miRNA of Smad4, was found to be down-regulated in S. japonicum-induced murine liver fibrosis models, while α-SMA and Smad4 were up-regulated (Zhu et al., 2014); these results suggested that the down-regulation of miR-454 may be involved in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis in S. japonicum-infected mice. This evidence concerns the gene SMAD4 and Hepatic fibrosis.