The most commonly used TCM compound in this study was Zinlida granules, which was confirmed in animal studies to have antioxidant effects, upregulate insulin signaling pathway, improve IR, reduce oxidative stress in the liver (Liu et al., 2015), antagonize hepatocyte apoptosis (Hao et al., 2022), and have good potential for the treatment of both T2DM and MAFLD. Here, INS is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.