CD8A and fibrosis: To address whether the different behaviors of CD8+ T cells in fibrotic (LFP) and cirrhotic (LCP) livers alter the effect of the hepatic fibrosis load in our fibrosis/cirrhosis DEN model, we performed immunofluorescence staining of alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)-positive cells, a marker of HSC activation [27], in liver tissues 3 (in the LFP) and 10 weeks (in the LCP) [5] post-DEN.