ALDH2 deficiency in pancreatic acinar cells aggravates acute pancreatitis by promoting NLRP3 inflammasome activation through autophagy
Qing-Zhen Wu, Bo-Zong Shao, Hong-Yi Sun, Kai-Yue Guan, Yan Wang, Zhen-Yu Liu, Wen-Gang Zhang, En-Qiang Linghu
Qing-Zhen Wu, Hong-Yi Sun, Kai-Yue Guan, En-Qiang Linghu, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Qing-Zhen Wu, Bo-Zong Shao, Hong-Yi Sun, Kai-Yue Guan, Yan Wang, Zhen-Yu Liu, Wen-Gang Zhang, En-Qiang Linghu, Senior Department of Gastroenterology, The First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Co-first authors: Qing-Zhen Wu and Bo-Zong Shao.
Co-corresponding authors: Wen-Gang Zhang and En-Qiang Linghu.
Author contributions: Wu QZ and Shao BZ made equal contributions as co-first authors; Linghu EQ and Zhang WG contributed to conceptualization and supervision; Wu QZ, Shao BZ, Sun HY, and Liu ZY contributed to experiments; Wu QZ, Shao BZ, Guan KY, and Wang Y contributed to data collection and analysis; Wu QZ and Shao BZ contributed to writing draft; Linghu EQ and Zhang WG made equal contributions as co-corresponding authors. All authors approved the final format of the submitted manuscript.
AI contribution statement: AI tools (specifically DeepSeek) were used solely for linguistic refinement and formatting assistance. No AI tool was involved in the generation of research data, interpretation of results, or formulation of conclusions. All AI-generated outputs were critically reviewed and revised by the authors.
Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipal, No. 7244297; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82204483; and the Youth Talent Program of the First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital (No. S2025-046-01).
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital (No. 2024-X20-38, and No. 2024-X20-57). All animals have been treated humanely and performed in conformity to the Guidelines for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institute of Health.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE Guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE Guidelines.
Data sharing statement: Materials in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Corresponding author: En-Qiang Linghu, MD, PhD, Chief Physician, Professor, School of Medicine, Nankai University, No. 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China.
linghuenqiang@vip.sina.com
Received: April 3, 2026
Revised: May 12, 2026
Accepted: July 7, 2026
Published online: October 28, 2026
Processing time: 162 Days and 11.1 Hours
