Therefore, according to cell viability assay and mRNA expressions of inflammatory factors (TNF-α and IL-8), palmitic acid induced maximum apoptosis in HepG2 cells; moreover, analysis of inflammatory marker expression implicated that these cells in vitro might mimic the in vivo conditions of cells in patients with NASH [26,27]. Here, CXCL8 is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.