To investigate the role of STAT3 in the pathogenesis of MHE in HCC, we investigated activation of STAT3 and the effectiveness of a STAT3 inhibitor (S3I) by flow cytometry (Fig. 4A) and on apoptosis as measured by TUNEL assay in the presence and absence of STAT3 inhibitor in human neuron cells stimulated with IL-1β (200 ng/ml), IL-6 (10 ng/ml), IFNλ3 (100 ng/ml), IFNγ (100 ng/ml) and IL-17a (1 ng/ml). Here, IL17A is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.