Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most common chronic liver disorder worldwide. Murine models of NAFLD have been widely used to explore its pathogenesis. In this study, we performed a systematic evaluation of hepatic genome-wide mRNA expression by RNA-Sequencing using three mouse models of NAFLD: leptin receptor deficient db/db mice, high-fat high-sugar diet (HSHF)-induced obese mice, and dexamethasone (DEX)-induced NAFLD mice. As a result, we found both distinct and common pathways in the regulation of lipid metabolism from transcriptomes of three mouse models. Moreover, only a total of 12 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were commonly detected among all three mouse groups, indicating very little overlap among all three models. Therefore, our results suggest that NAFLD is a heterogeneous disease with highly variable molecular mechanisms.

非酒精性脂肪性肝病 (NAFLD) 已成为全球最常见的慢性肝病。NAFLD 的小鼠模型已被广泛用于探索其发病机制。在这项研究中，我们使用三种 NAFLD 小鼠模型通过 RNA 测序对肝脏全基因组 mRNA 表达进行了系统评估：瘦素受体缺陷 db/db 小鼠、高脂高糖饮食 (HSHF) 诱导的肥胖小鼠、和地塞米松 (DEX) 诱导的 NAFLD 小鼠。结果，我们从三种小鼠模型的转录组中发现了调节脂质代谢的独特和共同途径。此外，在所有三个小鼠组中通常仅检测到总共 12 个差异表达基因 (DEG)，表明所有三个模型之间几乎没有重叠。所以，