Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression of BATF in liver and explore its relationship with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) progression by using NASH mouse model induced by a methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) diet.Methods C57BL/6 mice were given MCD diets for 8 weeks to establish NASH models. The expression of BATF in liver macrophage was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry.Results Compared with non-specific control (NC) group, the messenger ribonucleic acid expression level of BATF and proinflammatory cytokines,such as tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in MCD group, were significantly up-regulated. Besides, BATF was mainly expressed in the nuclei of inflammatory interstitial cells in MCD group. The proportion of F4/80-positive Kupffer cells in MCD group was significantly higher than that in NC group, which was mainly cluster of differentiation 11c-positive M1 Kupffer cells. BATF expression was significantly positively correlated with levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, steatosis, lobular inflammation, ballooning and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease active score.Conclusion BATF is involved in the progression of NASH and might has a potential value in predicting the progress of NASH.

Key words: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, BATF, Inflammatory factor, Biomarker