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Low Vitamin D Linked to Hepatitis B
By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today
Published: June 08, 2013
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Vitamin D deficiency might be a key player in hepatitis B (HBV) replication, researchers reported.
Low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D predicted high levels of the virus and vice versa, said Christian Lange, MD, and colleagues at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, in a retrospective case-control study.
Similarly the seasonal variation in 25-hydroxyvitamin D was reflected in an inverse variation of the virus, suggesting a "functional relationship" between the two, Lange and colleagues reported online in Hepatology.
Chronic HBV is difficult to cure although -- like HIV -- viral replication can be controlled by antiretroviral drugs. Nonetheless, better therapies are needed, Lange and colleagues noted.
"Vitamin D helps maintain a healthy immune system and there is evidence of its role in inflammatory and metabolic liver disease, including infection with hepatitis C virus," Lange said in a statement.
"However, the relationship between vitamin D metabolism and chronic HBV infection remains unknown and is the focus of our present study," he said.
More: MedPageToday
By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today
Published: June 08, 2013
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Action Points
Low 25(OH)D3 serum levels are associated with high levels of HBV replication in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
25(OH)D3 and HBV DNA serum levels showed inverse seasonal fluctuations.
Low 25(OH)D3 serum levels are associated with high levels of HBV replication in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
25(OH)D3 and HBV DNA serum levels showed inverse seasonal fluctuations.
Low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D predicted high levels of the virus and vice versa, said Christian Lange, MD, and colleagues at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, in a retrospective case-control study.
Similarly the seasonal variation in 25-hydroxyvitamin D was reflected in an inverse variation of the virus, suggesting a "functional relationship" between the two, Lange and colleagues reported online in Hepatology.
Chronic HBV is difficult to cure although -- like HIV -- viral replication can be controlled by antiretroviral drugs. Nonetheless, better therapies are needed, Lange and colleagues noted.
"Vitamin D helps maintain a healthy immune system and there is evidence of its role in inflammatory and metabolic liver disease, including infection with hepatitis C virus," Lange said in a statement.
"However, the relationship between vitamin D metabolism and chronic HBV infection remains unknown and is the focus of our present study," he said.
More: MedPageToday
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