ACTA1 and Hepatic fibrosis: Quantitative PCR analysis showed that ethanol, the solvent of DHA and EPA, increased the expression of α-SMA and ctgf in LX-2 cells, while it up-regulated α-SMA, collagen1α1, collagen1α2, collagen3α1, collagen4α5 and ctgf mRNA levels in HSC-T6 cells, suggesting that ethanol is involved in liver fibrosis (Fig. 3a–d).