Sepsis-induced endothelial dysfunction drives acute-on-chronic liver failure through Angiopoietin-2-HGF-C/EBPβ pathway

Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is an acute liver and multisystem failure in patients with previously stable cirrhosis. A common cause of ACLF is sepsis secondary to bacterial infection. Sepsis-associated ACLF involves a loss of differentiated liver function in the absence of direct liver injury, and its mechanism is unknown. We aimed to study the mechanism of sepsis-associated ACLF using a novel mouse model.