Histological analysis, and HIF2α and CD36 expression were evaluated in livers from animals in which von Hippel‐Lindau (Vhl) gene is inactivated (Vhlf/f‐deficient mice), or both Vhl and Hif2a are simultaneously inactivated (Vhlf/fHif2α/f‐deficient mice), and from 33 biopsy‐proven NAFLD patients and 18 subjects with histologically normal liver. This evidence concerns the gene EPAS1 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.