Changes in the LC3-II/LC3-I and p62/actin ratios were not significant, which might be due to the mild autophagy response; however, changes in the p-AKT/AKT, p-mTOR/mTOR and LC3-II/actin ratios were significant compared with those in the MCD group (Fig. 7A), which indicated that autophagy is accelerated by JZG in the NAFLD mouse model. Here, SQSTM1 is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.