Relevance of vitamin D on NAFLD and liver fibrosis detected by vibration controlled transient elastography in US adults: a cross-sectional analysis of NHANES 2017-2018

Background The connection between vitamin D to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is still unclear. Herein, the relationship of vitamin D with NAFLD and liver fibrosis (LF) detected by vibration controlled transient elastography was investigated in US adults. Methods The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2017-2018 was employed for our analysis. Participants were categorized as having either vitamin D deficiency (<50 nmol/L) or vitamin D sufficiency (>= 50 nmol/L). A controlled attenuation parameter score of >= 263 dB/m was employed to define NAFLD. Significant LF was identified by the liver stiffness measurement value of >= 7.9 kPa. Multivariate logistic regression was adopted to explore the relationships. Results Among the 3407 participants, the prevalence of NAFLD and LF was 49.63% and 15.93% respectively. Compared to participants without NAFLD, no significant difference in serum vitamin D was observed in NALFD participants (74.26 vs. 72.24 nmol/L; p = 0.21). Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, no obvious connection of vitamin D status to NAFLD (sufficiency vs. deficiency, OR 0.89, 95%CI 0.70-1.13) was discovered. However, among NAFLD participants, the sufficiency of vitamin D represents a lower LF risk (OR 0.56, 95%CI 0.38-0.83). When evaluated in quartiles, in comparison to the lowest quartile, high vitamin D represents low LF risk in a dose-dependent manner (Q2 vs. Q1, OR 0.65, 95%CI 0.37-1.14; Q3 vs. Q1, OR 0.64, 95%CI 0.41-1.00; Q4 vs. Q1, OR 0.49, 95%CI 0.30-0.79). Conclusions No relationship was found between vitamin D and CAP-defined NAFLD. However, a positive connection of the high serum vitamin D to the reduced LF risk was found among NAFLD subjects. Key messages: Our study found no relationship between vitamin D and CAP-defined NAFLD in US adults. High serum vitamin D was inversely associated with liver fibrosis in a dose-dependent manner among NAFLD participants.