Fig. 4

STAT promotes NAFLD through hepatic lipid accumulation. a, b Ex vivo images and H&E stained slides (magnification × 40), showing the scope of liver pathology. NAS score and fibrosis were determined by standardized histological scoring methods [2] with blinded readers averaging the results of ten fields per mouse for each criterion tested. c NAS score by group. The dashed line denotes the diagnostic threshold (>5) for NAFLD. d Fibrosis extent and severity scored from trichrome-stained sections. e Observed percent of mice with diagnostic NAFLD scores (>5; p value by Fisher’s exact test). p values were calculated by Kruskal–Wallis test, unless noted. Lipids were extracted from frozen livers, quantified, and normalized to protein. f Cholesterol, g triglycerides, and h free fatty acids. Data in c, d, f, g, and h are reported as mean ± SEM. p values were calculated by paired t-test. In all panels: *p <0.05; **p <0.01; ***p <0.001