Commentary
The results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating supplemental vitamin D on aminotransferases and cardio-metabolic risk factors in subjects with NAFLD have been inconsistent.
A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials by XF Guo et al. (Institute of Nutrition & Health, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China) aimed to quantitatively evaluate whether supplementation with vitamin D has beneficial effects in treatment of NAFLD.
Ten trials with a total of 544 NAFLD subjects were included for data synthesis. The summary estimates indicated that supplemental vitamin D significantly reduced the levels of serum/plasma fasting glucose, insulin, and HOMA-IR, and marginally reduced the alanine aminotransferase and triglyceride levels.
However, the pooled effect did not support that supplemental vitamin D was beneficial for concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol.
This study provides substantial evidence that supplemental vitamin D has favourable effects on glycaemic control and insulin sensitivity in NAFLD patients. Vitamin D could be as an adjuvant pharmacotherapy of NAFLD.
