TLR4 and serum lipopolysaccharide activity: Notably, feeding rats with the HFHF diet caused endotoxemia, as evidenced by the significant activation of hepatic TLR4, followed by NF-κB and TNF-α overexpression, compared with the normal control group; this observation indicated that the HFHF model effectively targeted the major inflammatory pathway that induces NASH-associated MS.