ALAS2 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis: In addition, the expression of other hemoglobin genes (HBD, HBE1, HBG2, HBQ1, and HBZ) and erythrocyte specific marker genes [34], [35] such as SPTA, SPTB, GYPA, and ALAS2 did not show a significant increase, suggesting that increased HBA1 and HBB expression in NASH did not result from erythropoiesis, but from a different mechanism.