Does Vitamin D Level Affect the Response to Antiviral Treatment in Egyptian Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C?

Objective: Vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with chronic liver disease. Several studies demonstrated that its levels are inversely related to the disease severity and documented improvement of the disease following supplementation especially regarding to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. To study level of vitamin D in Egyptian patients with chronic HCV infection and to investigate its correlation with activity and fibrosis scores of their liver biopsies, as well as the relationship of vitamin D levels with patients’ response to antiviral therapy. \udMaterials and Methods: The study included 60 Egyptian patients with chronic HCV infection who were scheduled for antiviral medications (pegylated-interferon and ribavirin) for 48 weeks and 50 healthy age- and sex-matched individuals non-reactive for HCV antibodies as a control group. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D was measured in all patients and controls and compared with patients’ liver biopsy results and their virological response (after 48 weeks treatment) assessed by polymerase chain reaction for HCV. \udResults: Serum vitamin D levels were inversely correlated with activity and fibrosis scores in liver biopsy. On the other hand, 63.3% of cases had good response to interferon treatment and 36.7% of them had no response without significant difference in serum vitamin D levels between responders and non-responders (39.2±23.6 and 37.1±13.2 ng/mL, respectively). \udConclusion: Vitamin D levels could affect liver necro-inflammatory process in Egyptian patients with chronic hepatitis C infection, but did not show significant effect on response to antiviral therapy