Angiogenesis: a phenomenon which aggravates chronic liver disease progression.

It has become increasingly clear that angiogenesis occurring during chronic wound healing and fibrogenesis provides a key contribution to disease progression and complications. The association of fibrogenesis and angiogenesis should be regarded as crucial in the modern evaluation of liver disease progression and in the search for therapeutic targets. Physiological hepatic angiogenesis occurs during liver regeneration, contributing to the formation of new functional sinusoids. Pathological angiogenesis in liver is characterized by intrahepatic vascular remodeling with capillarization of the sinusoids and development of intrahepatic shunts, which lead to increased hepatic resistance and decreased effective hepatocyte perfusion. The problem of angiogenesis in chronic hepatitis C and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease has not been fully resolved. This manuscript briefly describes pathogenesis of new blood vessel formation in chronic hepatitis and potential role of angiogenesis in disease progression.