CRP and diabetes mellitus: Compared to non-MASLD samples, the MASLD group had a lower proportion of females (20.3%vs.29.3%), was older (56vs.51 years), had a higher proportion of BMI > 30 (42.2%vs.28.9%), a lower proportion of never smokers (28.1%vs.36.2%), higher prevalence of diabetes (15.6%vs.7.3%), elevated levels of ALT (20vs.15), AST (20vs.18), total cholesterol (4.76vs.4.68), and hs-CRP (2.84vs.1.33).