THBS2 and metabolic syndrome: In contrast, this analysis identified genes known to be involved in the fibrotic process (THBS2), other genes previously identified in the context of hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome or progressive fatty liver disease (UBD, IL32, CD24), as well as novel genes (MIR4660, PHYH and PLA2G4C) that might be involved in the fibrotic process specifically in NASH (Figure S4H).