Our results showed that plasma activity of cholesterylester transfer protein (CETP) increased in NAFLD patients (33.34 ± 6.86 nmol/mL/h) compared to controls (29.50 ± 7.05 nmol/mL/h, P = 0.017) (Fig. 1d), but there was no significant difference in the activities of phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) and lecithin–cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) between the two groups (Fig. 1e,f). Here, PLTP is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.