Vitamin D Status and Steatohepatitis in Obese Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients

The presence of steatohepatitis in obese patients can be multifactorial. The current study tries to determine the differences between diabetic and non-diabetic patients regarding the presence of steatohepatitis. We evaluated sequential liver samples and collected the times of bariatric surgery to assess the presence of NASH in patients with obesity, in the circuit of bariatric surgery.

We performed a retrospective study of 49 patients presenting high-grade obesity in the circuit of bariatric surgery, with liver biopsy. The patients underwent bariatric surgery at a single center in France and were followed for 2 years. The liver biopsies were performed intraoperatively on all 49 patients before the bariatric surgery. The primary endpoint of the study was to evaluate the relationships between steatohepatitis/liver fibrosis and the presence of diabetes and to evaluate the current relationships between the biochemical work-ups. Special importance was accorded to the correlations between vitamin D levels and the presence of hepatic steatosis, due to the antifibrogenic pattern in the liver, as shown in many important papers in the field.

Significant correlations were found between the presence of liver fibrosis and the presence of diabetes (p = 0.022), but not regarding the antidiabetic treatment. An important correlation was found between the vitamin D levels and the presence of liver fibrosis, as well as with the levels of A1C hemoglobin and LDL cholesterol levels.

Vitamin D deficiency presents a strong correlation with hepatic steatosis in individuals with morbid obesity. Correcting vitamin D deficiency may present a beneficial role in treating hepatic steatosis, diabetes, and cardiovascular risk in patients with morbid obesity.