A significant elevation of nearly half of the hub genes (including THY1, SPON1, COL1A1, COL5A1, COL1A2, RHBDF1, COL4A2, COL3A1, IGFBP7, TIMP1, QSOX1 and PGF) could be observed both in AH and NAFLD in comparison with the normal control, while PTGDS, TMPRSS3, COL8A2, MXRA8,FKBP10, CERCAM, AGPAT4 and STING1 did not altered significantly in AH but increased prominently in the NAFLD progression (Figures 4A–C), indicating the critical role of the identified hub genes in both NAFLD and AH. Here, COL8A2 is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.