APLN and fibrosis: After removing two samples that were NAS 3 and 4 for obscure NASH phenotypes, the remaining 7 sample pairs (2 non-NAFLD, 4 NASH-Fibrosis, and 1 NASH-Cirrhosis) showed increased hepatic TM4SF5 expression and serum apelin levels as liver disease became severe, although the difference between groups were not statistically significant (p = 0.2506 and p = 0.0564, respectively; Figures 8C and 8D).