Use of metabolic syndrome severity to assess treatment with vitamin E and pioglitazone for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Individuals with more severe metabolic derangement at baseline were less likely to exhibit NASH resolution, suggesting that individuals may have a threshold of MetS severity beyond which successful treatment is unlikely. As an integrated marker of metabolic abnormalities, MetS-Z was correlated with successful treatment, although transaminases were a more consistent marker of NASH resolution.