VEGFA and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis: Interestingly, we found that hrSB3 stimulation of THP-1-derived macrophages led also to a significant increase at both mRNA (Figures 5A, C) and protein (Figures 5B, D) levels of pro-fibrogenic mediators VEGF-A and TGFβ1, indicating that these cells were acquiring the mixed pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrogenic phenotype characteristic of NASH-associated MoMFs (15–17).