Correlation between serum 25-OH vitamin D expression and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

This study investigated changes in the level of serum 25-OH vitamin D [25-hydroxyvitamin D, 25(OH)D] in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the correlation between the severity of NAFLD and 25(OH)D. A retrospective analysis was performed on 385 NAFLD patients (NAFLD group) admitted to the Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Xiamen University from January 2015 to December 2017 and 347 healthy people with physical examination (control group). The height and weight of all subjects were measured, and BMI was calculated. Fasting venous blood was extracted for the determination of blood glucose, blood lipid and 25(OH)D. The indicator levels of patients in the two groups were compared and analyzed. Spearman's correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between the severity of NAFLD and the level of 25(OH)D. The levels of BMI, FPG, FPI, HbA1c, TG, TC and LDL-C of patients in the NAFLD group were significantly higher than those in control group (P<0.05). The level of 25(OH)D in the NAFLD group was lower than that in control group (P<0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between 25(OH)D and the severity of patients in the NAFLD group (r=−0.868, P<0.001). BMI, FPG, FPI, HbA1c, TG, TC and LDL-C were independent risk factors for the low level of 25(OH)D (P<0.05). Lowly expressed in the serum of NAFLD patients, 25(OH)D has a significant negative correlation with the severity of NAFLD, which is of guiding significance for the prevention and treatment. 25(OH)D is a novel biomarker for NAFLD diagnosis and a potential drug target.