All rats were sacrificed after 8 weeks, and blood was collected from the abdominal aorta. Serum was separated and stored at −80°C for measurement of hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN), N-terminal peptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP), and collagen type IV (CIV). Then, liver was immediately removed. One part of the liver was used for the extraction of protein for western blotting. The other part of liver was fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde, embedded in paraffin, and cut into sections (5 μm thick) for HE and Sirius red staining. Animal care and procedures were approved by Medical Ethics Committee of Jiangsu University, China.