Curiously, diabetic NAFLD patients had significantly lower leptin compared with those who were non-diabetic (34.90 ± 2.87 vs. 45.39 ± 2.17 ng/ml; p < 0.01; Supplementary Figure 1), supported by the negative correlation between leptin and fasting glucose (p < 0.05; Figure 1C). Here, LEP is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.