Objective To investigate the expression changes of macrophage migration inhibitory factor(MIF)and C-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in the liver of rat with abnormal glucose metabolism and explore the pathological mechanism of abnormal glucose metabolism with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Methods Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) model group (n=20), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) model group (n=20), IGT control group (n=10) and T2DM control group (n=10). IGT models were produced by feeding high-fat diet, T2DM models were produced by feeding high-fat diet for 4 weeks and intraperitoneally injected streptozotocin. Liver cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL staining. The expression of MIF mRNA in liver tissue was determined by real-time PCR. The expressions of MIF, caspase-3, JNK proteins and phosphorylated JNK(p-JNK)in the liver tissue were determined by Western blotting. Results Apoptotic cells were obviously increased in the IGT and T2DM groups. Expression of MIF mRNA in the IGT and T2DM groups was markedly higher than that in the control group, respectively (P<0.01). The expressions of MIF, caspase-3, JNK proteins and phosphorylated JNK were markedly higher than that of the control group, respectively (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The expressions of MIF, caspase-3, JNK proteins in the T2DM group were significantly decreased compared with those of the IGT group, while the expression of phosphorylated JNK was significantly higher (P<0.01). Conclusions Abnormal glucose metabolism accompanied with NAFLD is probably related to the increase of MIF, Caspase-3, JNK and phosphorylated JNK expression.