Characteristics of participants
We identified 190 eligible patients with NAFLD based on the inclusion
and exclusion criteria. Of these patients, 79 (41.58%) had elevated
intestinal permeability (D-lactate, ≥15 U/L) and 111 (58.42%) had
normal intestinal permeability (D-lactate, <15 U/L). First, we
compared the characteristics between these two groups of patients. There
were no significant intergroup differences in demographic
characteristics, smoking status, or comorbidities (Table 1 ).