Baseline levels of sCD163 also correlated positively with other markers related to inflammation, i.e., C-reactive protein (CRP, rho = 0.337, p = 0.042), IL-10 (rho = 0.559, p = 0.002), and total leukocyte counts (rho = 0.493, p = 0.001) as well as with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) prior to intervention (rho = 0.356, p = 0.026, Additional file 1: Table S1). Here, CD163 is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.