Retraction notice to “Acetylation of lactate dehydrogenase B drives NAFLD progression by impairing lactate clearance” [J Hepatol 74 (5) 2021 1038–1052] (Journal of Hepatology (2021) 74(5) (1038–1052), (S0168827820338150), (10.1016/j.jhep.2020.11.028))

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief. The journal was alerted by a reader to suspected misconduct with regards to the current article. The journal Editorial office launched a full investigation into these allegations and has reached out to both the authors and to the institution where the work is said to have been conducted, but no suitable explanation for the concerns has been received. Resultantly, and given the severity of the concerns in question, the Editor in Chief has concluded that it is appropriate to retract the article. The specific allegations for which suitable explanation remains outstanding are as follows: 1. Fig. 1A; Fig. 2H, J, L,M, Q-W; Fig. 5O, and Fig. S1 reported in the manuscript was previously reported in the PhD thesis of first author Tongxin Wang, pertaining to a different experimental model and results, raising questions as to the authenticity of the findings. 2. It remains unclear whether or not informed consent was obtained from study participants because the authors have not provided further details, either in the article or in correspondence with the journal since, about the methods used to a) recruit patients to the study or b) to obtain informed consent. 3. Quantification data, reported in the form of bar charts [In Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5] appear irregular and inconsistent for usual data of this kind; however the authors have stated that the associated raw data is no longer available, raising questions as to the data's authenticity. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process. All authors and the institution of the corresponding author have been notified of the retraction of this article.