Fig. 1: The general workflow and the association of FGF21 expression with clinical outcomes.

a An overview of a general workflow for the study. b Comparison of pre- and post-transplantation Fgf21 mRNA expression in the liver graft based on the GSE15480 (n = 12 pairs, including pre- and post-LT donor livers) and GSE151648 (n = 40 pairs, including pre- and post-LT donor livers) derived from graft biopsies in liver transplantation. c Comparison of pre- and post-reperfusion FGF21 levels in the serum (Cohort 1, n = 88 pairs, including pre- and 2 h post-LT recipient serum). d The peripheral FGF21 level 2 h after reperfusion linearly correlated with maximal ALT within 7 days after transplantation. e The 88 patients were divided into the FGF21-elevated group (n = 44) and non-elevated group (n = 44) according to the median value of ratio change (post-reperfusion/pre-transplant). The elevated group had improved graft survival. f, g Pre-transplant FGF21 expression in biopsies (Cohort 2, n = 115) and its correlation with graft survival (after excluding liver grafts with CIT > 15 h, n = 107). h Information on graft steatotic change was missing for 19 cases in this cohort. We confirmed that 33 patients received steatotic liver grafts. Low FGF21 in the graft was associated with elevated ALT and AST after transplantation. However, there was no significant difference in the non-steatotic subgroup (n = 55). I/R, ischemia/reperfusion; KO knockout, ALT alanine aminotransferase, AST aspartate aminotransferase, CIT cold ischemia time. p values are shown on the graphs. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Figure 1a created with BioRender. com released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en).