CD68 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis: In addition to increased fibrosis, the expression of mRNA-encoding macrophage marker CD68 and typical pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα, encoded by Tnf), interleukin (IL)-1β (Il1b), chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (Ccl2), and colony-stimulating factor 1 (Csf1), was significantly increased in NASH livers compared with the normal control (Figure 4I).