ALF: Acute Liver Failure AIH: Autoimmune Hepatitis ConA: Concanavalin A GalN: D Galactosamine HSCs: Hepatic Stellate Cells KCs: Kupffer Cells LSECs: Liver Sinusoid Endothelial Cells MDSCs: Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells MHC: Major Histocompatibility ROS: Reactive Oxygen Species

Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic liver disease where presentation of a self-antigen peptide by professional antigen presenting cells initiates liver damage and drives the differentiation of uncommitted CD4 helper T cells to a Th1 and Th17 response. However, the details of the pathogenic mechanisms remain unclear and current treatments stay non-specific, making the need for reliable animal models high. Due to the activation and recruitment of T lymphocytes to the liver, the Concanavalin A (ConA) model is a proper animal model to investigate most forms of acute liver injury in humans such as AIH, acute liver failure and acute viral hepatitis in which T cell infiltration is observed. Intravenous injection of ConA leads to severe liver damage by necrotic cell death of hepatocytes and release of alanine and aspartate transaminases into the blood. In this review, we present an overview of the current understanding of the model, with an emphasis on the cell types involved in ConA-induced liver injury.