Backward elimination of variables identified a composite model in the discovery cohort (n = 191) that could classify patients with at-risk NASH with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.878 (±0.025) including the variables BMI, T2DM and circulating ADAMTSL2, AKR1B10, CFHR4 and TREM2 (Fig. 3a), independent from any other clinical variables. Here, CFHR4 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.