Fig. 1

NAFLD was characterized by abnormal iron metabolism accompanied by down-regulation of Cav-1 in liver. a Flow chart of mouse NAFLD model construction. b Line chart of changes in body weight of mice within 12 weeks (n = 7). c Accumulation of fat in liver of mice. d Serum levels of ALT, AST, LDL-C and TC between NC group and HFD group (n = 5). e HE staining, Oil Red O staining and Nile Red staining results of liver tissue between NC group and HFD group. f Concentration of serum total iron, liver tissue Fe²⁺ and liver tissue Fe³⁺ between NC group and HFD group (n = 5). g Western blotting analyses of FTL and FTH proteins between NC group and HFD group (n ≥ 5). h Cav-1 immunohistochemistry staining between NC group and HFD group (n = 4). i Oil Red O staining results of primary hepatocytes with or without 100 μmol/L PA + 200 μmol/L OA. j Cav-1 immunofluorescence staining of primary hepatocytes with or without PA + OA (n = 3). k Western blotting analyses of FTH proteins with or without PA + OA (n = 3). ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001, as determined by Student’s t test analysis or one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc analysis. All data were shown as the mean ± SD. NAFLD non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NC negative control, HFD high-fat diet, ALT alanine aminotransferase, AST aspartate transaminase, LDL-C low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, TC total cholesterol, FTL ferritin light chain, FTH ferritin heavy chain, Cav-1 caveolin-1, PA palmitic acid, OA oleic acid