Other potentiallimitations include the absence of a longitudinal assessment, which precludedthe analysis of disease progression or regression during treatment; the factthat we did not monitor patient use of medications that could impact livervolume and fat; and the fact that fasting insulin data for calculating theHomeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) score, which isconsidered a secondary criterion for the diagnosis of metabolicsyndrome(9), were not available. This evidence concerns the gene INS and Insulin resistance.