PTEN and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis: Therefore, in this study, we aimed to provide direct evidence of the existence of the circRNA_002581–miR-122–CPEB1 axis, test the effect of antagonizing circRNA_002581 on NASH severity, investigate whether autophagy restoration is the downstream effector and finally, find whether the PTEN–AMPK–mTOR pathway acts as the bridge between such axis and autophagy change.