Study Ties Low Vitamin D Status to Fatty Liver Disease in Children

Our vitamin D needs are met from the nutrients we consume and a hormone produced in the body. A new study says that a low status of vitamin D triggers non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children.

Researchers at the King's College Hospital Paediatric Liver Centre in collaboration with University of Surrey's School of Biosciences and Medicine investigated the link between low level of Vitamin D and non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the U.K. children and found a genetic variant associated with the severity of the disease.

For this study, the researchers analysed the medical records of over 120 paediatric patients with NAFLD. 

NAFLD, one of the most common liver diseases worldwide, describes the fat-build up in liver cells among the people who do not drink alcohol excessively.  It is one of the most common existing liver disorders in western countries and affects nearly 10 percent of Europe's paediatric population.  It is estimated that over 20 percent to 30 percent of Europe is affected with this disease.

The study has suggestions for the U.K. clinicians who are working toward lowering the rising number of childhood NAFLD. An increase in vitamin D deficiency and a rise in number of rickets cases are believed to exist due to the obesity epidemic and more children opting to play indoors rather than outdoors.

Professor Jean-Francois Dufour of the University Clinic for Visceral Surgery said, "The data support recent research that revealed an association between low vitamin D status and incidence of NAFLD and is an important development in helping clinicians better understand the growing rate of NAFLD in children throughout the western world. Identifying a gene that impacts or alters the disease is a step in the right direction and could potentially lead to the development of new treatments or diagnostic techniques to address this growing issue. More research into this field is warranted and I look forward to seeing future developments over time."

 It was found that it was just not during winters that the patients suffered from low levels of vitamin D but that the status remained same throughout the year. Also most of the samples had deficient or insufficient vitamin D status when compared to  U.K. and U.S. health standards.

Apart from this, the researchers also detected a variant of NADSYN1 gene that was linked with severity of NAFLD in patients.

The study was funded by Children's Liver Disease Foundation.