CD36 and steatosis: In consistency, CD36 expression is markedly elevated in the livers of obese mice and NAFLD patients.[10, 39, 40, 52, 53] Moreover, hepatic CD36 upregulation is significantly correlated with liver fat content and insulin resistance in patients with NASH.[54] The significance of CD36 in steatosis support the notion that hepatic FFAs uptake is an important pathogenic factor contributing to NAFLD and NASH.