KL and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: The indirect pathways ‘α-Klotho → NAFLD → T2DM → CVD’ (p < 0.001) and ‘α-Klotho → NAFLD → T2DM → CKD → CVD’ (p < 0.001) demonstrated statistically significant mediation effects, suggesting that higher α-Klotho levels are inversely associated with this pathogenic cascade.