Another study reported Sal obstructing HSC activation and autophagy by downregulating NF-κB and TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway (Feng et al., 2018), though it is unclear whether the effect of Sal on liver fibrosis is correlated to the SphK/S1P/S1PRs signal pathway. The gene discussed is SPHK1; the disease is Hepatic fibrosis.