does vitamin d independently lower the severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease? a case-control study in khuzestan province, iran

Background: a global pandemic of hypovitaminosis d is emerging. vitamin d is essential for metabolic processes, particularly those involving free fatty acids (ffa), which transition from peripheral tissues to the liver. consequently, its deficiency could promote the production of hepatocyte fat.objectives: this study investigated the hypothesis that vitamin d levels, as an independent factor, directly impact nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (nafld) in individuals of varying grades, ages, and genders in khuzestan province, iran. methods: serum 25(oh)d levels were retrospectively assessed in 400 individuals, comprising 200 nafld patients and 200 healthy controls. vitamin d deficiency was defined as serum 25(oh)d levels below 20 ng/ml. the study aimed to exclude any potential confounding variables that could have affected the relationship between vitamin d and nafld. in this investigation, the receiver operating characteristic (roc) curve was utilized. results: twenty percent of controls and 70% of nafld patients had vitamin d deficiency. serum 25(oh)d levels were significantly lower in nafld patients compared to healthy controls, with a mean of 24.95 ± 9.16 ng/ml versus 31.28 ± 12.52 ng/ml (p < 0.001). those with nafld had significantly higher than normal liver enzyme [alanine transferase (alt)] values (p < 0.001). the roc curve analysis revealed that a blood 25(oh)d level below 26.4 ng/ml increases the risk of nafld with a 63.5% sensitivity and 66.5% specificity. among female nafld patients, 28.8% had vitamin d deficiency, while 44.9% of male patients were deficient. the findings demonstrated that, in contrast to age, a greater body mass index (bmi), gender, and vitamin d deficiency were significantly associated with an elevated risk of nafld. conclusions: regardless of any confounding variables, low levels of 25(oh) vitamin d are independently linked to nafld, and 26.4 ng/ml was identified as the precise cutoff value for vitamin d associated with an elevated risk of nafld.