Interestingly, there is evidence that TQ may have beneficial effects on hepatic fibrosis via reducing mRNA expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen-І and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) (Asgharzadeh et al., 2017 ▶; Bai et al., 2014 ▶). This evidence concerns the gene TIMP1 and Hepatic fibrosis.