SQSTM1 and Hepatic fibrosis: The hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia associated with insulin resistance activate hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and promote hepatic fibrosis (Svegliati-Baroni et al., 1999; Sugimoto et al., 2005), suggesting that the improvement in glucose metabolism induced by p62 in muscle may contribute to the retardation of NASH progression via a muscle-liver axis.