Vitamin D deficiency and inflammatory cytokines in chronic HCV patients: A case-control study

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between vitamin D levels with IL-6 and IL-8, the proinflammatory cytokines, as well as biochemical and haematological variables in individuals diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C (HCV), considering these factors as markers of disease severity. Methodology and results: This case-control study assessed the level of vitamin D, pro-inflammatory cytokines; IL-6 and IL-8, and common liver injury biochemical markers such as glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamicpyruvic transaminase (GPT) in healthy controls and in chronic hepatitis C (HCV) patients. It was found that HCV patients had significantly lower vitamin D levels than healthy controls (p<0.001). Moreover, it was observed that levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in HCV patients are elevated compared to the control group (p<0.05 and p<0.0001, respectively). A significant negative correlation between IL-6 and vitamin D (p<0.05, r=0.3521) was also observed. However, no correlation was seen between IL-8 and vitamin D. Furthermore, a low level of vitamin D was associated with an elevation in liver enzymes, anaemia and thrombocytopenia. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The research findings suggest that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to HCV-induced liver inflammation severity and, consequently, fibrosis. This is illustrated by the inverse correlation between vitamin D levels with liver damage enzymes (GOT and GPT) and the inflammatory markers. This might be a potential therapeutic benefit of vitamin D supplementation medication in HCV patients in the future.