Research paper
Vitamin D supplementation for chronic liver diseases in adults.
Study answer
What this study found
Vitamin D supplementation increased vitamin D status but did not show clear benefit on clinically important liver outcomes or survival. All-cause mortality was uncertain (Peto OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.09 to 5.38; 15 trials; 1034 participants), and liver-related mortality remained very imprecise (RR 1.62, 95% CI 0.08 to 34.66; 1 trial; 18 participants). Vitamin D status improved (MD 17.24 ng/mL, 95% CI 12.5 to 22.0; 6 trials; 424 participants), but there was no consistent evidence of improvement in liver-related morbidity, health-related quality of life, or adverse events. The overall evidence was…
- Study & population
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials in adults with chronic liver diseases, including chronic hepatitis C, cirrhosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and liver transplant recipients.
- Intervention
- Oral vitamin D supplementation was tested in multiple formulations, mainly vitamin D3, but also calcitriol and vitamin D2.
- Key limitation
- Only a small number of trials and participants were available, with high risk of bias, substantial between-trial heterogeneity, and wide confidence intervals.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BACKGROUND Vitamin D deficiency is often reported in people with chronic liver diseases. Therefore, improving vitamin D status could have a beneficial effect on people with chronic liver diseases. OBJECTIVES To assess the beneficial and harmful effec…