Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41778160›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in endocrinology2026

Intermittent fasting ameliorates MAFLD by downregulating Lrg1: insights from bulk RNA sequencing and functional verification.

Huafeng Chen, Shilin Zhang, Wenqiang Xie, Jie Shen, Hua Liang

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Article in Frontiers in endocrinology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Huafeng ChenDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University (The First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan), Foshan, Guangdong, China.
Shilin ZhangDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University (The First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan), Foshan, Guangdong, China.
Wenqiang XieDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University (The First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan), Foshan, Guangdong, China.
Jie ShenDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University (The First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan), Foshan, Guangdong, China.
Hua LiangDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University (The First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan), Foshan, Guangdong, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The global prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is increasing annually, significantly impairing patients' quality of life. Given the limitations of existing treatments, this study aims to investigate the effects of intermittent fasting (IF) on MAFLD and its underlying mechanisms. Methods: The liver tissues of four groups of mice were analyzed by bulk RNA sequencing: normal ad libitum diet (CD group), normal IF (iCD group), high-fat ad libitum diet (HFD group) and high-fat IF group (iHFD group). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, followed by enrichment analyses including Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify related modules. The most highly correlated module genes were intersected with DEGs and analyzed by protein-protein interaction(PPI) network to identify key genes. The key genes were preliminarily verified by RT-qPCR. The function of the key gene was further verified by Results: IF significantly improved metabolic abnormalities and hepatic lipid deposition in MAFLD mice. A total of 331 DEGs were identified between the HFD and CD group, 379 DEGs between the iHFD and HFD group, and 142 DEGs were found to be common to both comparisons. Enrichment analysis showed that DEGs were mainly enriched in pathways related to fatty acid metabolism and inflammatory responses. WGCNA identified red and blue modules are most strongly correlated with MAFLD traits. After intersecting with DEGs, 32 genes were obtained. Based on PPI network analysis, we identified five key genes. After knocking down one of the key genes, Lrg1, Conclusions: Transcriptome analysis elucidated the potential mechanism by which intermittent fasting improves MAFLD, highlighting the important role of fatty acid metabolism and inflammatory responses. Several key genes regulating MAFLD through IF were identified. Knocking down the key gene Lrg1 inhibited the expression of lipogenic genes and effectively slowed MAFLD progression.

Indexed as

FastingIntermittent FastingNon-alcoholic Fatty Liver DiseaseAnimalsDiet, High-FatDown-RegulationGene Expression ProfilingLipid MetabolismLiverMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLSequence Analysis, RNAfatty acid metabolisminflammationintermittent fastingLRG1MAFLD

Identifiers

PMID41778160
PMCPMC12950749

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.