Hypovitaminosis D and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Rizk, Mahmoud; Mohamed, Ahmed Refaat; El-Alfy, Amira K.; Masry, Ahmed Ramadan; Abd Ellatif Afifi, Mohamed

doi:10.21608/ejhm.2022.272485

Hypovitaminosis D and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

10.21608/ejhm.2022.272485

Abstract

Background:The most frequent primary liver cancer in those with cirrhosis and chronic liver disease is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Anti-infective and immune-modulating capabilities have been discovered for the multifunctional steroid hormone known as vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency was found to be linked with advancement of Chronic liver disease (CLD) as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), alcoholic liver disease (ALD), as well as the hepatitis C virus (HCV).Objective:The aim of the current work was to investigate the association between vitamin D deficiency and HCC in patients with liver cirrhosis. Patients and Methods: Ninety individuals with liver cirrhosis (LC) participated in this trial. The included subjects were divided into two groups; Group A consisted of 45 cirrhotic patients without HCC, and Group B consisted of 45 cirrhotic patients with HCC. Results: Liver function tests: INR, ALT, AST, total bilirubin were all statistically substantially higher in group B than in group A (P=0.001, 0.001, 0.001, and 0.011, respectively). However, group B's serum albumin and platelet count were considerably lower than group A's (P=0.003 and 0.001, respectively) compared to each other. In comparison to group A's alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) of 8.69±1.84, group B's AFP of 254.33±32.69 was statistically substantially higher (P = 0.001).Vitamin D levels in group B were substantially lower (19.33±4.68) than in group A (26.31±4.95) (P= 0.00). With an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.802, vitamin D was significant at a cutoff level of ≤ 20.5 ng/ml with a sensitivity of 80.3% and a specificity of 75% for increasing the risk of HCC. Conclusion: It could be concluded that it is crucial to maintain an optimum blood level of vitamin D in cirrhotic individuals since our findings indicate a substantial correlation between vitamin D levels and HCC risk.

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