Previous studies have shown that WEC suppresses TNF-α-induced phosphorylation of I kappa B-alpha (IkBα), which can lead to activation of NF-kB, and also inhibits hepatic expression of TNF-α, IL-6, and VCAM-1 mRNA and recruitment of monocytes/macrophages in animal models of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis [24,29]. Here, NFKB1 is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.