title: Low vitamin D status is associated with advanced liver fibrosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
abstract: Several studies explored the association between vitamin D status and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with contradictory results. We aimed to investigate the association between vitamin D status, inflammatory cytokines and liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients. Two hundred nineteen nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients and 166 age- and gender- matched healthy controls were recruited for this study. Serum 25(OH)D was measured by radioimmunoassay. Serum interleukin-8 and transforming growth factor-β1 were measured using ELISA. Serum 25(OH)D was only marginally decreased in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients. Interestingly, serum 25(OH)D was markedly reduced in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients with advanced liver fibrosis compared to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients with indeterminate liver fibrosis and no advanced fibrosis. Logistic regression analysis showed that there was an inverse association between serum 25(OH)D and severity of liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients. Further analysis showed that serum interleukin-8 was elevated in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients, the highest interleukin-8 in patients with advanced fibrosis. An inverse correlation between serum 25(OH)D and interleukin-8 was observed in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients with and without liver fibrosis. Although serum transforming growth factor-β1 was slightly elevated in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients, serum transforming growth factor-β1 was reduced in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients with advanced fibrosis. Unexpectedly, a positive correlation between serum 25(OH)D and transforming growth factor-β1 was observed in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients with advanced fibrosis. In conclusion, low vitamin D status is associated with advanced liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients. Interleukin-8 may be an important mediator for hepatic fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients with low vitamin D status.
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
authors: Bing-Bing
authors: BB
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Toxicology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.|Department of Histology and Embryology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
authors: Yuan-Hua
authors: YH
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Toxicology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
authors: Cheng
authors: C
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
authors: Chang-E
authors: CE
authors: Shi
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
authors: Kai-Feng
authors: KF
authors: Hu
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China.
authors: Ju
authors: J
authors: Zhou
authors: Department of Toxicology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China. xudex@126.com.
authors: De-Xiang
authors: DX
authors: Xu
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China. ayfychenxi@163.com.
authors: Xi
authors: X
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000097:blood; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D016209:Interleukin-8; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D
keywords: Advanced liver fibrosis; Interleukin (IL)-8; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Vitamin D deficiency