Vitamin D Supplementation and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Present and Future.

ABSTRACT: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic hepatic disease throughout the Western world and is recognized as the main cause of cryptogenic cirrhosis; however, the identification of an effective therapy for NAFLD is still a major challenge. Vitamin D deficiency is a wide-spread condition which reaches epidemic proportions in industrialized countries, mainly in relation to current lifestyle and limited dietary sources. Epidemiological studies point towards an association between hypovitaminosis D and the presence of NAFLD and steatohepatitis (NASH), independently of confounders such as obesity and insulin resistance. Furthermore, several pieces of experimental data have shown the anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing properties exerted by vitamin

SUBMITTER: Barchetta I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5622775 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature