A cartoon figure showing the whole pathway is described in this article (Figure 9): lncRNA MALAT1, induced by HG in rat renal tubular epithelial cells, sponging miR-2355-3p to upregulate expression of IL6ST that can activate the STAT3/NF-kB pro-inflammatory and the fibrogenic axis, promotes renal fibrosis in rats with DN. Here, IL6ST is linked to liver dysplastic nodule.