The same study also demonstrated significantly elevated levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentrations in NASH, although the AUROC of 0.678 was lower than for IL-6.122 IL-6 levels were also independently associated with fibrosis in a study by Lemoine et al., where the combination of HOMA-IR with the adiponectin/leptin ratio demonstrated an AUROC of 0.82 for distinguishing between NASH and simple steatosis.123. The gene discussed is ADIPOQ; the disease is metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.