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 ).