ACE2 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: In contrast, hepatic mRNA expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 was low in obese subjects without liver injury (n = 17) or with simple steatosis (n = 57) but significantly increased in obese patients with NASH (P < .01 and P < .05) and correlated with the NAFLD activity score (NAS) (P = .017 and P = .003, respectively).39