The strength of this association was not weakened by adjustment for important baseline confounding factors such as age, BMI, HbA1c, HOMA-IR score and use of some specific glucose-lowering agents (such as pioglitazone, GLP-1 receptor agonists or SGLT-2 inhibitors) that might favourably affect NAFLD and liver fibrosis. The gene discussed is SLC5A2; the disease is metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.