Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Apr 27:11:19-25.
doi: 10.4137/IMI.S31451. eCollection 2016.

The Role of Vitamins in the Pathogenesis of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Jiawei Li  1 , Paul Cordero  1 , Vi Nguyen  2 , Jude A Oben  2
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Vitamins in the Pathogenesis of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Jiawei Li et al. Integr Med Insights. .

Abstract

The incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rising rapidly in parallel with obesity rates. The underlying pathogenesis of NAFLD remains an enigma but is largely influenced by individual lifestyle choices involving diet and exercise. Therefore, studies have highlighted the importance of calorie reduction and macronutrient composition (eg, carbohydrate and fat) in modifying disease outcomes. Micronutrients are also believed to play a role in disease progression. There are now an increasing number of studies linking vitamins with NAFLD, particularly vitamin E, and the supplementation of several different vitamins has been demonstrated as a promising therapeutic option in the treatment of NAFLD. This review provides a broad overview of the potential role of vitamins in NAFLD development and disease management.

Keywords: fatty liver; metabolic syndrome; micronutrient; oxidative stress; vitamin.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Angulo P. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. N Engl J Med. 2002;346:1221–31. - PubMed
    1. Aykut UE, Akyuz U, Yesil A, et al. A comparison of FibroMeter NAFLD Score, NAFLD fibrosis score, and transient elastography as noninvasive diagnostic tools for hepatic fibrosis in patients with biopsy-proven non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Scand J Gastroenterol. 2014;49:1343–8. - PubMed
    1. Zhu JZ, Dai YN, Wang YM, et al. Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and economy. Dig Dis Sci. 2015;60(11):3194–202. - PubMed
    1. Argo CK, Caldwell SH. Epidemiology and natural history of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Clin Liver Dis. 2009;13:511–31. - PubMed
    1. Charlton MR, Burns JM, Pedersen RA, et al. Frequency and outcomes of liver transplantation for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in the United States. Gastroenterology. 2011;141:1249–53. - PubMed