MALAT1 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: While additional studies will be necessary to delineate the relationship between MALAT1 and CXCL5 and determine the contribution from different cell types in the liver to the MALAT1-CXCL5 pathway, these findings preliminarily suggest that functionally relevant differences in MALAT1 expression may contribute to the development of NAFLD fibrosis through mechanisms involving inflammatory chemokines.