LEP and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: Accordingly, in a larger study, which include 1610 patients with NAFLD, it was also found that higher leptin levels were associated with increased hepatic steatosis severity based on both ultrasound findings and NAFLD fibrosis score; however, only in classic NAFLD patients the finding remained significant after adjusting for known demographic variables, this fact suggests that leptin role in NAFLD pathogenesis may be body mass index (BMI)-dependent [186].