In nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), liver function is impaired by fatty degeneration or by inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, or IL-8.(41) Consequently, because it is likely that the changes in salivary gland tissue structure brought on by aging are caused by the same mechanism as NASH, future studies will need to investigate changes over time in inflammatory cytokines in the salivary gland. This evidence concerns the gene IL6 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.