DES and Hepatic fibrosis: With the development of steatohepatitis and stage 1-2 fibrosis by week 16–2413, the canonical pathway for hepatic fibrosis/hepatic stellate cells activation was markedly increased at week 24 (Fig. 5), consistent with an increased in α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and desmin levels observed in these mice at that time point13.