Effect of vitamin D supplementation on various parameters in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: An...

The current updated meta-analysis aimed to explore the effects of vitamin D supplementation on various parameters in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), using the latest trials available.

PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were screened for the collection of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the efficacy of additional vitamin D vs. the placebo group on NAFLD patients in the last 5 years. Trials included were focused on the assessment of anthropometric and biochemical indices.

Our results revealed that additional vitamin D greatly increased serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), and decreased the low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. However, no significant differences were found in terms of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), c-glutamyltransferase, fasting blood glucose (FBG), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and Ca²⁺ levels between the supplementation of vitamin D and placebo.

The present study demonstrated the advantageous impact of supplementary vitamin D on the levels of 25(OH)D and LDL-C in NAFLD patients. However, the results failed to provide evidence for the superiority of additional vitamin D in relation to the concentrations of serum ALP, AST, TC, Ca, γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT), TC, FBG, IR and HDL-C.