Deficiency of Vitamin D in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54112/bcsrj.v6i7.1989Keywords:
Chronic liver disease, vitamin D deficiencyAbstract
Deficiency of Vitamin D is associated with various types of chronic liver diseases and with a higher risk of death in these patients. Therefore, it is crucial to diagnose and treat Vitamin D deficiency in patients with chronic liver disease. Objective: The objective of this study was to find out the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in patients with chronic liver Disease. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, Allama Iqbal Teaching Hospital, DG. Khan from January 2025 to June 2025. After obtaining permission from the institute's ethics board, a total of 167 individuals, including both genders and aged 18 to 50, who had been diagnosed with chronic liver disease for more than six months and received at least 15 minutes of sun exposure twice a week, were included in this study. Data was collected from patients in the hospital's Medicine and Gastroenterology department who satisfied the inclusion criteria. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Percentages and frequencies were calculated for vitamin D deficiency, gender, and the causes of chronic liver disease (HBV/HCV/alcohol/Wilson's disease, etc.). We determined the mean and standard deviations for socioeconomic status (monthly income), age, BMI, SGPT, vitamin D levels, and sun exposure. To determine the connection between variables, the chi-square test was used. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: A total of 167 individuals with chronic liver disease were enrolled in this study, out of which 106(63.4%) were male and 61(36.5%) were female. A deficiency of vitamin D was observed in 95 (56.88%) individuals. The most common cause of chronic liver disease was HCV 140(83.8%). Our study found that vitamin D insufficiency was significantly associated with the cause of CLD, but not with age, gender, BMI, socioeconomic level, or sun exposure. Conclusion: Our study found that vitamin D insufficiency was prevalent in patients with CLD (56.8%), with a higher incidence in men.
Downloads
References
Zaina FE, Parolin MB, Lopes RW, Coelho JC. Prevalence of malnutrition in liver transplant candidates. Transplant Proc. 2004;36(4):923–925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.transproceed.2004.04.068
Fisher L, Fisher A. Vitamin D and parathyroid hormone in outpatients with noncholestatic chronic liver disease. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007;5(4):513–520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2006.10.015
Zittermann A, Iodice S, Pilz S, Grant WB, Bagnardi V, Gandini S. Vitamin D deficiency and mortality risk in the general population: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012;95(1):91–100. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.111.014779
Anty R, Tonohouan M, Ferrari-Panaia P, Piche T, Pariente A, Anstee QM, et al. Low levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D are independently associated with the risk of bacterial infection in cirrhotic patients. Clin Transl Gastroenterol. 2014;5(5):e56. https://doi.org/10.1038/ctg.2014.6
Arteh J, Narra S, Nair S. Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in chronic liver disease. Dig Dis Sci. 2010;55(9):2624–2628. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-009-1069-9
Heuman DM, Mihas AA, Habib A, Gilles HS, Stravitz RT, Sanyal AJ, et al. MELD-XI: a rational approach to "sickest first" liver transplantation in cirrhotic patients requiring anticoagulant therapy. Liver Transplant. 2007;13(1):30–37. https://doi.org/10.1002/lt.20906
Stokes CS, Volmer DA, Grünhage F, Lammert F. Vitamin D in chronic liver disease. Liver Int. 2013;33(3):338–352. https://doi.org/10.1111/liv.12106
Ridruejo E, Bessone F, Daruich JR, Estes C, Gadano AC, Razavi H, et al. Hepatitis C virus infection in Argentina: The Burden of Chronic Disease. World J Hepatol. 2016;8(15):649–658. https://doi.org/10.4254/wjh.v8.i15.649
Kheiri B, Abdalla A, Osman M, Ahmed S, Hassan M, Bachuwa G, et al. Vitamin D deficiency and risk of cardiovascular disease: a narrative review. Clin Hypertens. 2018;24:13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40885-018-0094-4
Trépo E, Ouziel R, Pradat P, Momozawa Y, Quertinmont E, Gervy C, et al. Marked 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency is associated with poor prognosis in patients with alcoholic liver disease. J Hepatol. 2013;59(2):344–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2013.03.024
Azeem W, Khalid MT, Karim S, Kalwar HA, Mujtaba G, Faryal A. The burden of vitamin D deficiency in patients with chronic liver disease. Pak Armed Forces Med J. 2022;72(2):458–461. https://doi.org/10.51253/pafmj.v72i2.6520
Han YP, Kong M, Zheng S. Vitamin D in liver diseases: from mechanisms to clinical trials. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2013;28(Suppl 1):49–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgh.12016
Petta S, Camma C, Scazzone C, et al. A low vitamin D serum level is associated with severe fibrosis and reduced responsiveness to interferon-based therapy in genotype one chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology. 2010;51(4):1158–1167. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.23489
Petta S, Grimaudo S, Di Marco V, et al. Association of vitamin D serum levels, and its common genetic determinants, with severity of liver fibrosis in genotype one chronic hepatitis C patients. J Viral Hepat. 2013;20(7):486–493. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvh.12063
Petta S, Gastaldelli A, Rebelos E, Bugianesi E, Messa P, Miele L, et al. Pathophysiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Int J Mol Sci. 2016;17(12):2082. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17122082
Zhao XY, Li J, Wang JH, Habib S, Wei W, Sun SJ, et al. Vitamin D serum levels are associated with Child-Pugh scores and metabolic enzyme imbalances, but not viral load, in chronic hepatitis B patients. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(27):e3926. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000003926
Fernández Fernández N, Linares Torres P, João Matias D, Jorquera Plaza F, Olcoz Goñi JL. Vitamin D deficiency in chronic liver disease: clinical-epidemiological analysis and report after vitamin D supplementation. Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;39(5):305–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gastrohep.2015.10.003
Kumar R, Kumar P, Saxena KN, Mishra M, Mishra VK, Kumari A, et al. Vitamin D status in patients with cirrhosis of the liver and their relatives: a case-control study from North India. Indian J Gastroenterol. 2017;36(1):50–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12664-017-0727-7
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Kashif Ali, Mujahid Iqbal, Nalain Zahra, Nadir Abbas, Irfan Buzdar, Shehriyar Zafar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
