These authors found that, following adjustment for confounding factors, the median carotid intima-media thickness (a widely used marker of subclinical atherosclerosis) in group M was significantly greater than that in group G (0.84 (0.70–0.95) mm vs. 0.66 (0.55–0.74) mm; p < 0.001), and the latter was not different from that of controls (0.70 (0.64–0.81) mm) suggesting that hepatic steatosis was associated with an increased risk of subclinical carotid atherosclerosis burden only in patients with Metabolic Syndrome rather than in genetic NAFLD owing to PNPLA3 SNP [87]. Here, PNPLA3 is linked to metabolic syndrome.