Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the Vitamin D Receptor – editorial

Created September 2019

Overview of studies of the vitamin D/vitamin D receptor system in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. 2019 Sep 10;10(2):11-16. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v10.i2.11.

Cimini FA1, Barchetta I1, Carotti S2, Morini S3, Cavallo MG1.

  • 1 Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome I-00161, Italy.

  • 2 Department of Medicine and Surgery, Laboratory of Microscopic and Ultrastructural Anatomy, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Rome I-00128, Italy.

  • 3 Department of Medicine and Surgery, Laboratory of Microscopic and Ultrastructural Anatomy, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome, Rome I-00128, Italy, s.morini@unicampus.it.

Items in both categories Liver and Vitamin D Receptor are listed here: {category} --- Vitamin D Receptor category has the following {include} --- Items in both categories Liver and Intervention are listed here: give vitamin D and see what happens {category} --- Items in both categories Liver and Meta-analysis are listed here: summary of trials {category} --- Other NAFLD * Strong association of non alcoholic fatty liver disease and low vitamin D * Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (4 in 10 seniors) and Vitamin D * VitaminDWiki pages with NON-ALCOHOLIC or NAFLD in title (23 pages as of Oct 2021)

📄 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease in the world. NAFLD is known to be associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and increased cardiovascular events: for these reasons, it is becoming a global public health problem and represents an important challenge in terms of prevention and treatment. The mechanisms behind the pathogenesis of NAFLD are multiple and have not yet been completely unraveled; consequently, at moment there are not effective treatments. In the past few years a large body of evidence has been assembled that attributes an important role in hepatic aberrant fat accumulation, inflammation and fibrosis, to the vitamin D/ vitamin D receptor (VD/VDR) axis, showing a strong association between hypovitaminosis D and the diagnosis of NAFLD. However, the data currently available, including clinical trials with VD supplementation, still provides a contrasting picture.

The purpose of this editorial is to provide an overview of recent advances in the pathogenesis of NAFLD in relation to VD/VDR. Based on recent data from literature, we focused in particular on the hypothesis that VDR itself , independently from its traditional ligand VD, may have a crucial function in promoting hepatic fat accumulation. This might also offer new possibilities for future innovative therapeutic approaches in the management of NAFLD.

Tags: Liver Vit D Receptor