title: Vitamin D for your patients with chronic hepatitis C?
abstract: Vitamin D is increasingly becoming recognized as an important physiological regulator with pleiotropic functions outside of its classical role in skeletal homeostasis. A growing body of clinical evidence highlights the prevalence and risks of vitamin D deficiency in patients suffering from chronic hepatitis C infection, and vitamin D supplementation has been proposed as an adjunct to current standards of care. This review considers the experimental evidence for the anti-inflammatory, antifibrotic and antiviral effects of vitamin D, and discusses the therapeutic potential of vitamin D supplementation to protect against liver disease progression and improve responses to treatment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Liver Diseases, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Adeeb H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Andrea D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Branch
mesh_terms: D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001847:Bone Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents; D014807:Vitamin D