METRNL and steatosis: Metrnl, a novel adipokine located in the 11Qe2 region of human and mouse chromosomes, is abundantly expressed in rodent and human subcutaneous adipose tissues, and is also highly expressed in skin and mucosal barrier tissues (Zheng et al., 2016).In previous studies, Metrnl has been demonstrated to inhibit steatosis, promote lipid metabolism, and ultimately improve insulin resistance in adipocyte through PPARγ pathway via an autocrine or paracrine mechanism (Li et al., 2015).