IL-1β, a potent inflammatory cytokine, promotes hepatic stellate cell proliferation (Reiter et al., 2016) and is involved in the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis, the latter of which can be induced by several factors, such as toxins, ethanol, and NASH (Seki and Schwabe, 2015). The gene discussed is IL1B; the disease is metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.