Figure legends
Figure 1. (A) Study flowchart. Dynamic changes in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (B) and aspartate transaminase (AST) (C) levels during follow-up. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. PeALT, persistently elevated ALT; PnALT, persistently nomal ALT.
Figure 2. Significant differences in circulating metabolites between the PeALT and PnALT groups. (A) Total number and main categories of identified metabolites. (B) OPLS-DA model and (C) Volcano plots of the PnALT vs. PeALT groups. (D) KEGG analysis results of enriched signaling pathways. (E) The top 10 differential metabolites were ranked by VIP values. (F) Relative intensity of the top 10 differential metabolites between the PeALT and PnALT groups. **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. OPLS-DA, orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis; KEGG, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; VIP, variable importance in projection.
Figure 3. Differential plasma metabolites associated with PeALT risk. (A) Correlations of the levels of differential metabolites with ALT levels, and (B) clinical parameters. (C) ROC curve for differential metabolites. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. ROC, receiver operating characteristic.
Figure 4. NALM improves carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury. (A) Schematic diagram of the mouse experiment. (B, C) Comparison of serum ALT levels in each group at 24, 48, and 72 h. (D, E) Comparison of serum AST levels in each group at 72 h. (F, G) Representative images of hematoxylin and eosin staining and quantification of necrotic areas in the liver. Scale bar = 100 µm. *p < 0.05; **p< 0.01; ***p < 0.001. ”ns” indicates not significant. NALM, N -acetyl-l-methionine; 11-DHC, 11-dehydrocorticosterone; 3-Mx, 3-methylxanthine; 7-Mx, 7-methylxanthine; 3-MA, 3-methylhippuric acid.