In terms of distribution in the hepatic lobule, focal expressions of LCN2 were found in hepatic parenchymal cells in the vicinity of inflammatory cell clusters by immunohistochemical staining techniques (Figure 4D), and correlations were found between the number of inflammatory clusters and number of LCN2-positive cells in the NAFLD (NASH and SS) mice (Figure 5C). Here, LCN2 is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.