Abstract:  Objective    Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) was used to explore the characteristics and significance of intrahepatic shear wave velocity of mice with liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Methods    Six weeks old male C57BL/6J mice were used. The control group mice were given edible oil (0.1 mL/20 g body weight) by gavage once every other day for 8 weeks. In the 4-weeks group, the above-mentioned edible oil was given by gavage once every other day for 4 weeks, then the mixture of 1% CCl4 and edible oil (250 µL/kg) were given by gavage once every other day for 4 weeks. In the 8-weeks group, the mixture of 1% CCl4 and edible oil  (250 µL/kg) were given by gavage once every other day for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of the experiment and another 2 weeks of normal feeding, ARFI was used to detect the intrahepatic shear wave velocity respectively. All the mice were sacrificed and the liver tissues were collected for HE and Sirius red collagen staining, and the pathological changes of liver tissues were observed. Results   Compared with the control group, the intrahepatic shear wave velocity of the 4-week group was increased after 2 weeks of normal feeding, and the histological liver fibrosis was formed, while that of the 8-week group was higher than that of the control group after 2 weeks of normal feeding and the liver cirrhosis was formed. However, the intrahepatic shear wave velocity of 4-week group and 8-week group was similar, which was significantly higher than that of  after  2 weeks of normal feeding respectively. Conclusion    The intrahepatic shear wave velocity of ARFI can reflect the changes of liver fibrosis in mice, but the effect of intrahepatic inflammatory injury on intrahepatic shear wave velocity should be excluded.

Key words: Liver fibrosis, Ultrasound elastography, Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging,  ,  ,  ,  , Shear wave velocity, Mice