The results showed that the collagen deposition and liver fibrosis caused by S. japonicum infection were markedly alleviated after DKK1 treatment (Fig. 4A), which was accompanied by a decrease in the expression of α-SMA/Acta2, desmin and Col1a1 (Fig. 4B,C and Supplementary Fig. 12). This evidence concerns the gene ACTA1 and Hepatic fibrosis.