PNPLA3 and metabolic syndrome: According to the previous reports, the PNPLA3 rs738409 variant may affect susceptibility to NAFLD via some plausible mechanisms, including impairment of intrahepatocellular lipolysis [27], lipid droplets remodeling [28], very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) secretion [29], and retinol metabolism via retinyl-palmitate lipase activity [30] and the G risk allele in PNPLA3 rs738409 is a risk factor for NAFLD, especially in subjects without metabolic syndrome [31].