With regard to the relationship between testosterone and hepatic inflammation, White and colleagues demonstrated a positive correlation between total testosterone level and hepatic inflammation as well as hepatic fibrosis in male patients infected with HCV.(10) In patients with NAFLD and T2DM, serum SHBG levels were inversely associated with serum ALT levels.(43) Our results showed that the concentration of free testosterone, but not total testosterone, tended to be decreased as the grade of hepatic inflammation developed in male CLD-C patients. The gene discussed is SHBG; the disease is type 2 diabetes mellitus.