Sanyal, MD, from the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology,
and Nutrition at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond,
and a multicenter team studied 247 nondiabetic adults with biopsy-proven NASH with a nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score of 4 or higher within 6 months of randomization. The researchers allocated:
* 80 patients to the insulin-sensitizer pioglitazone (30 mg once daily),
* 84 patients to vitamin E (800 IU/day), and
* 83 patients to placebo.