Con A and dimethyl sulfoxide were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St Louis, MO, USA) and stored at 4°C. PAG was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, and the RNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) kit was obtained from Takara Biotechnology (Dalian, People’s Republic of China). Fetal bovine serum and Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium were obtained from Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA, USA). LC3-2 and Beclin-1 were purchased from Abcam (Cambridge, UK). The antibodies used for immunoblotting and immunohistochemical staining were anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, anti-interleukin (IL)-6, anti-mTOR, anti-p-mTOR, anti-p-AKT, and anti-AKT (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX, USA). Con A was dissolved in pyrogen-free physiological saline and intravenously injected at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight to induce hepatitis as previously described.1 (link) NaHS was dissolved in saline and intravenously injected at a dose of 14 μmol/kg body weight. PAG was dissolved in pyrogen-free physiological saline and intraperitoneally injected at a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight.