In the past few decades, obesity and its comorbidities are becoming the leading causes of death around the world (1). Meanwhile, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the most prevalent chronic liver disease in the United States (2). NAFLD consists of a spectrum of pathological states ranging from simple steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) (2). Epidemiological studies show that 59.1% of biopsy-proven NAFLD patients progress to NASH (2, 3). As the incidence of advanced liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma are significantly increased in NASH patients, NASH becomes the second common cause of liver transplantation for liver diseases and is still growing (2).

So far, bariatric surgery is the most effective approach to treat obesity, which can also alleviate its comorbidities, such as type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hypertension, and hyperlipidemia (4). Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) serve as the most prevalent bariatric procedures in the world (5). Now, RYGB is recognized as the gold standard bariatric procedure worldwide (6). Recently, a study showed that all NAFLD parameters improved after bariatric surgery. This effect is more significant in patients undergoing RYGB surgery than patients who undergo adjustable gastric banding (AGB) surgery (7). Evidence from the liver biopsy showed that hepatic steatosis, hepatocellular ballooning, lobular inflammation, fibrosis, and NAFLD score obviously improved 1 year after bariatric surgery (8). The remission rate of NASH is over 85% after bariatric surgery (8). However, the mechanism of bariatric surgery in NASH alleviation is still elusive.

RYGB surgery is thought to be the malabsorptive procedure that bypasses a great portion of the intestine leading to nutrient malabsorption and weight loss (9). In the past few decades, evidence shows that bariatric surgery contributes to weight loss at least partially through energy balance regulation, peripheral and central nervous system regulation, gastrointestinal absorption and secretion, and microbiota alteration (10). Although the therapeutic effect of bariatric surgery on NASH has been confirmed recently, the underlying mechanism is almost unknown.

Microarray technology is an essential tool to illustrate gene expression patterns in multiple diseases, which can help us understand the biology and molecular mechanisms of diseases more efficiently. Microarray technology has also been used in the liver of NASH patients and animal models to detect differentially expressed genes (DEGs), screen disease biomarkers, or find new therapeutic targets (11, 12). By searching the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), there exists only two human datasets comparing DEGs in the liver tissue of NASH patients before and after bariatric surgery (13, 14). As the bioinformation in these datasets have not been thoroughly mined. Thus, we performed a global transcriptome analysis using a bioinformatic approach to find pivotal genes which might mediate RYGB surgery induced NASH improvement. In addition, hub genes and functional modules were identified in the DEGs, and biological function and pathway annotation were also performed.

In the past few decades, NAFLD has become the most common chronic liver disease around the world (18, 19). Although NAFLD is a benign disease, NASH (a progressive stage of NAFLD) is the second common cause for liver transplantation and increases hepatocarcinoma progression (2). So far, bariatric surgery seems to be the most long-lasting effective method to treat NASH (7, 8). However, due to the safety issue, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases has not recommended bariatric surgery to specifically treat NASH (20). However, it can serve as an option for obese patients (BMI ≥35 kg/m2) with one or more complications remediable by weight loss, including NAFLD and NASH (21). Nowadays, less invasive and safer modern interventions are needed to replace invasive bariatric procedures. So, it is urgently needed to illustrate the mechanism underlying bariatric surgery in NASH improvement. Microarray technology is an efficient method to get transcriptomic bioinformation under various diseases. In this study, we included two microarray studies comparing gene expression profiles between Baseline (liver specimens obtained during RYGB surgery) and Follow-up (liver specimens obtained 1 year after RYGB surgery) to get DEGs. Furthermore, we perform functional annotation and construct PPI network to illustrate the biological function and involved pathways of the DEGs.

Although the GSE106737 dataset had been already used by others, their research was focused on the function of CD8 T cells in the progression and remission process in NASH (14). The study using the GSE83452 dataset included a wide range of patients with NASH or fibrosis and focused on single gene interpretation (13). The present research strictly selected cases which verified NASH improvement after RYGB surgery to interpret the hepatic global transcriptomic change underlying this process. In the present study, we obtained 130 common DEGs between GSE106737 and GSE83452 datasets (cases selected strictly matched inclusion criteria). Among these DEGs, 29 genes were up-regulated, and 101 genes were down-regulated. PPI network included 93 genes and most of them belonged to the down-regulated DEGs. In the PPI network, IGF1, JUN, FOS, LDLR, TYROBP, DUSP1, CXCR4, ATF3, CXCL2, EGR1, SAA1, CTSS, and PPARA were identified as the hub genes and ranked by the degree value using CytoHubba plug-in APP in Cytoscape. Among 13 hub genes, only IGF1 and PPARA were up-regulated, while others were down-regulated. In consistence with this conclusion, a previous study had demonstrated that PPARα activation might be the mechanism underlying NASH improvement after RYGB surgery (13, 22).

Furthermore, using the MCODE plug-in APP in Cytoscape, we got three modules in the PPI network. Seventeen genes were included in Module 1, among which, JUN, FOS, DUSP1, CXCR4, ATF3, CXCL2, EGR1, and SAA1 severed as hub genes. These genes participated in the IL-17 signaling pathway, osteoclast differentiation pathway, chemokine signaling pathway, viral protein interaction with cytokine and cytokine receptor pathway, etc. Activator protein 1 (AP-1), which was combined with Jun (c-Jun, JunB, and JunD), Fos (c-Fos, FosB, Fra-1, and Fra-2), activating transcription factor (Atf) and musculoaponeurotic fibrosarcoma (Maf) proteins to form homodimer or heterodimer is a dimeric leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor (23). Generally, the AP-1 complex played a pivotal role in acute stress response in the liver (24). Recent evidence showed that c-Jun/AP-1 overexpression might mediate the hepatic pathological alteration in NASH patients (25). Furthermore, AP-1 correlated with hepatic lipid metabolism and NASH progression through regulating PPARγ expression (26). CXCL and CCL are chemokines with chemotactic properties and CXCR is one type of G protein-coupled chemokine receptors (27). Chemokines participate in homeostatic or inflammatory regulation which mediates physiological or pathophysiological alteration in disease progression through binding corresponding receptors (28). CXCL2 and CXCL8 chemokines were mainly originated from activated Kupffer cells (29). CXCL2 and CXCL8 with neutrophil chemotactic properties recruit neutrophils, releasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and proteases and therefore initiating hepatocyte necrosis (30). CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL 16 attract lymphocytes or natural killer (NK) cells involved in hepatic inflammatory pathogenesis and accelerate hepatic fibrosis progression (31). CXCR4 is the corresponding receptor of CXCL12. In the liver of NASH patients, the affinity of CXCR4 significantly increased which increased CD4+ T-cells deposition (32). DUSPs, namely, dual-specificity protein tyrosine phosphatases served as mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) inactivator (33). DUSPs as MAPK phosphatases (MKPs) dephosphorylated the threonine and tyrosine residues of MAPK and played a pivotal role in hepatic metabolic regulation (34). MKP-1, a negative regulator of p38 MAPK and c-Jun NH₂-terminal kinase 1/2 (JNK1/2), activated transcription factors regulating hepatic lipid homeostasis (35). Studies showed that MKP-1 deficient protected mice from diet-induced obesity and diet or gene induced hepatic steatosis (35, 36).EGR1, namely, early growth response 1, played an essential role in the pathophysiological process of inflammation and tissue repairment (37). A previous bioinformatic study identified that the lower expression of hepatic EGR1 might promote NAFLD development (38). Evidence from both in vivo and in vitro experiments also confirmed the function of EGR1 in hepatic insulin response and hepatic lipid metabolic regulation (37). SAA1, namely, serum amyloid A-1 protein belongs to the SAA family (39). As a classical acute-phase protein produced by hepatocytes, SAA mediated infection, injury, and inflammation response and could regulate toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), which participated in obesity-induced insulin resistance (40). In progressive liver diseases, including NASH, the serum level of SAA could serve as a biomarker for inflammatory status (41). Moreover, SAA1 had the ability to stimulate NF-κBp65 protein transportation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and activate the NF-κB pathway which mediated NASH progression (40).

Module 2 included TYROBP, CD68, THEMIS2, MNDA, S100A9, S100A8, LAPTM5, CD53, SRGN, and CTSS, among which TYROBP and CTSS served as the hub genes in the PPI network. TYROBP, namely, Tyrosine kinase binding protein could activate NK cells through binding a variety of receptors (42). Studies showed that TYROBP could synthesize lipopolysaccharide and activated pro-inflammatory cytokines production (43). After TYROBP gene deletion, the pro-inflammatory cytokines decreased obviously, which indicated that TYROBP might be involved in NASH progression (44). In Module 2, CTSS, LAPTM5, and CD68 were involved in the lysosome pathway. CTSS and CD68 were both recognized as the molecular biomarker of macrophages (45). Moreover, CTSS and CD68 positively correlated with hepatic macrophage infiltration in NAFLD mice (45). Meanwhile, a recent bioinformatic study identified hepatic CTSS and CD68 as major genes contributing to NAFLD (46). Furthermore, we identified S100A9 and S100A8 genes in Module 2, which were involved in the IL-17 signaling pathway. As members of the S100 proteins, S100A8 and S100A9 could be secreted by either neutrophils or monocytes (47). S100A8, S100A9, and S100A8/S100A9 (heterodimer formed by S100A8 and S100A9) were implicated in various inflammatory diseases and could serve as the biomarker for inflammatory activity monitoring (48). It was worth noting that S100A8 and S100A9 had a direct link with inflammatory and fibrotic status in NASH patients (47).

Module 3 included MT1E, MT1F, MT1G, MT1H, and MT1M. Though none of them was identified as the hub gene, they were involved in the mineral absorption pathway. Metallothioneins (MTs), including MT1, MT2, MT3, and MT4 isoforms, played a pivotal role in heavy metal toxicity protection, metal homeostasis, and oxidative stress regulation (49). In MT1, there existed MT1A, MT1B, MT1E, MT1F, MT1G, MT1H, MT1M, and MT1X isoforms (49). These proteins mainly regulated copper and zinc homeostasis in the liver and protected hepatocytes from oxidative damage (50). Thus, MT1 expression negatively correlated with the damage status of chronic liver diseases (51). Moreover, MT1 could stimulate damaged hepatocyte repair and regeneration (52). However, we could not ignore the fact that mineral deficiency was a common complication after RYGB surgery. Data from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Integrated Health Nutritional Guidelines showed that the prevalence of zinc deficiency occurred in 40% post-RYGB patients and copper deficiency occurred in 10%–20% post-RYGB patients (53). Thus, we speculated that copper and zinc deficiency might be caused by the low hepatic MT1 expression after RYGB surgery. On the contrary, as MT1 protein expression was positively regulated by zinc and copper, the zinc and copper deficiency further suppressed MT1 expression and formed a vicious circle (54, 55). So, the mineral condition should be inspected strictly and supplements should be administrated if necessary after RYGB surgery.

Though we got much transcriptomic bioinformation underlying RYGB induced NASH improvement, the causes of these hepatic changes had not been fully clarified. Due to the lack of conclusive evidence, we speculated about the reason for inflammatory related genes alteration after RYGB surgery: 1) The gastrointestinal anatomy was altered after RYGB surgery, so more bile acid (BA) reach ileum and stimulate enteric GLP-1 and PYY release through activating the local L-cells (56). Furthermore, the increased BA also stimulated TGR5 expression in Kupffer cells (57). These BA induced metabolic change may lead to a reduction in hepatic pro-inflammatory genes expression after RYGB surgery. 2) RYGB surgery manipulate a variety of adipocyte derived adipocytokines (adiponectin, leptin, TNFα, IL-6, and etc.), which have been proven to be involved in the hepatic inflammatory process (58). For instance, RYGB surgery could significantly increase adiponectin levels, which suppress Kupffer cells and hepatic stellate cells (HSC) activation and decrease hepatic inflammatory genes expression (58, 59). 3) The gut microbiota composition obviously shifted after RYGB surgery, as the rearrangement of the gastrointestinal tract created a more acidic and oxygen-rich environment (60). Recent evidence showed that specific gut microbiota was independently associated with the severity of NAFLD (61). We speculated that gut microbiota shift after RYGB surgery might alleviate NASH through modulating hepatic inflammatory gene expression.

There existed several limitations of the present study, which should be noted. First and foremost, due to the difficulty in collecting the hepatic specimens after RYGB surgery, we did not validate the genes in the pathway highlighted by the present study. This limited the strength of our results in interpreting the mechanism underlying RYGB surgery induced NASH alleviation. Second, we could not get enough demographic and clinical information for the patients included in our study. Considering body weight, body mass index (BMI), and obesity related comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes mellitus were all risk factors for NASH. There existed confounding factors in the analysis in the present study. Third, hepatic tissue was the heterogeneous mixture of hepatocytes and mesenchymal cells, and the cell composition might be influenced during specimen collection. Finally, the metabolic change in the liver after bariatric surgery is a dynamic process. Analysis at a single time point after surgery ignored the full picture of the hepatic remodeling process.

In conclusion, in the present study, we exhibit the global profile of DEGs and corresponding signaling pathways, which may mediate RYGB surgery induced NASH improvement. In the process of RYGB surgery induced NASH improvement, the possible key genes are IGF1, JUN, FOS, LDLR, TYROBP, DUSP1, CXCR4, ATF3, CXCL2, EGR1, SAA1, CTSS, and PPARA, and the possible involved pathways are IL-17 signaling pathway, osteoclast differentiation pathway, chemokine signaling pathway, viral protein interaction with cytokine and cytokine receptor pathway, Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway and mineral absorption pathway. Most DEGs and enriched signaling pathways are involved in the inflammatory response, immunoreaction, and lipid homeostatic regulation. These results provide pivotal transcriptome information underlying RYGB surgery induced NASH alleviation.

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found in the article/ Supplementary Material .

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements.

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

This work was supported by the Support Program for Young and Middle-aged Scientific and Technological Innovation Talent (Grant No. RC200607); 2020 “Double First Class”: Support Plan for the Iconic Achievement of Clinical Medicine (Grant No. 3110200345).

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.