Fig. 1: Kupffer cells play a pivotal role in the early injury of alcohol-related steatohepatitis.

a Schematic representation of different ethanol (EtOH) treatments applied to WT mice and hepatocytes (HEPs). b Measurement of ALT in the cultured media of HEPs treated with EtOH for 6 h (left, n = 3/group). Serum ALT and EtOH levels from in vivo experiments (right, n = 6/group). c–g Analysis parameters in time-course tracing of acute on chronic EtOH-fed mice, comparing each timepoint after binge alcohol administration relative to the EtOH only (0 h). c Evaluation of serum ALT, AST, and TG in mice with a 2-week EtOH diet plus binge drinking (n = 4/group). d Representative staining of liver sections with H&E solutions and antibodies of Ki-67, MPO and CLEC4F. Scale bar, 50 μm. e Bar and linear graphs or flow cytometry panels showing frequencies of liver mononuclear cells (MNCs) and neutrophils in liver (n = 4/group). f Quantification of the number of CLEC4F⁺ Kupffer cells (KCs) per HEPs by immunostaining (n = 12/group), as well as their frequency in flow cytometry and counts per liver weight (n = 4/group). g mRNA expression of Cxcl1 and Ccl2 in isolated HEPs and Cxcl1 (n = 5/group), Il1b, Il6, Cybb, and Grm5 in isolated KCs (n = 4/group). Statistical comparisons were made using one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.