title: Vitamin D status, liver enzymes, and incident liver disease and mortality: a general population study.
abstract: Vitamin D deficiency is common among patients with liver diseases. Both cholestatic and non-cholestatic liver diseases can cause vitamin D deficiency. Whether vitamin D status can also affect liver function is poorly understood. To investigate the association between vitamin D status, liver enzymes, and incident liver disease, we included a total of 2,649 individuals from the Monica10 study conducted in 1993-1994. Vitamin D status as assessed by serum 25-hydroxyvitamin, serum alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) were measured at baseline. Information on fatal and non-fatal liver disease was obtained from the Danish National Patient Register and The Danish Registry of Causes of Death, respectively. Median follow-up time was 16.5 years, and there were 62 incident cases of fatal and non-fatal liver disease. Multivariable Cox regression analyses with age as underlying time axis and delayed entry showed a statistically significant inverse association between vitamin D status and incident liver disease with a hazard ratio = 0.88 (95 % confidence interval 0.79-0.99) per 10 nmol/l higher vitamin D status at baseline (adjusted for gender, season, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, dietary habits, education, body mass index, and ALT). The risk of having a high level of ALT, AST, or GGT tended to be higher for lower vitamin D levels, although not statistically significant. In this general population study, vitamin D status was inversely associated with incident liver disease. Further studies are needed to determine whether patients in risk of developing impaired liver function should be screened for vitamin D deficiency for preventive purposes.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Glostrup Hospital, Nordre Ringvej 57, 2600, Glostrup, Denmark, tea.skaaby.01@regionh.dk.
authors.forename: Tea
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Skaaby
authors.forename: Lise Lotte Nystrup
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Husemoen
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borglykke
authors.forename: Torben
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jørgensen
authors.forename: Betina Heinsbæk
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Thuesen
authors.forename: Charlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pisinger
authors.forename: Lars Ebbe
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linneberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D