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Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Aug 25;15(17):3733.
doi: 10.3390/nu15173733.

The Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on Serum Aminotransferases in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Stamatina Vogli  1 , Androniki Naska  1 , Georgios Marinos  1 , Maria-Iosifina Kasdagli  1 , Philippos Orfanos  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on Serum Aminotransferases in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Stamatina Vogli et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Νon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common cause of end-stage liver disease in developed countries. Oxidative stress plays a key role during the course of the disease and vitamin E supplementation has shown to be beneficial due to its antioxidative properties. We aim to investigate the effect of vitamin E supplementation on serum aminotransferase levels in patients with NAFLD. Three electronic databases (MEDLINE, CENTRAL, and Embase) were reviewed for randomized trials that tested vitamin E supplementation versus placebo or no intervention in patients with NAFLD, published until April 2023. A total of 794 patients from 12 randomized trials were included in this meta-analysis. Notwithstanding the studies' heterogeneity and moderate internal validity in certain cases, among studies testing vitamin E supplementation at 400 IU/day and above, the values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were reduced compared with placebo or no intervention [ALT Mean Difference (MD) = -6.99 IU/L, 95% CI (-9.63, -4.35), for studies conducted in Asian countries and MD = -9.57 IU/L, 95% CI (-12.20, -6.95) in non-Asian countries]. Regarding aspartate aminotransferase (AST), patients in the experimental group experienced a reduction in serum levels, though smaller in absolute values [AST MD = -4.65 IU/L, 95% CI (-7.44, -1.86) in studies conducted in Asian populations] and of lower precision in non-Asian studies [MD = -5.60 IU/L, 95% CI (-11.48, 0.28)].

Keywords: ALT; AST; NAFLD; NASH; alanine transaminase; aminotransferases; aspartate transaminase; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; systematic review; tocopherols; tocotrienols; vitamin E.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA flowchart and reasons for exclusion of studies.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Meta-analysis of randomized and controlled trials assessing the effect of vitamin E supplementation on ALT (a) and AST (b) levels in Asian and non-Asian patients with NAFLD [16,18,19,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Meta-analysis of randomized and controlled trials assessing the effect of vitamin E supplementation on ALT (a) and AST (b) levels in adults and children with NAFLD [16,18,19,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Meta-analysis of randomized and controlled trials assessing the effect of vitamin E supplementation on ALT (a) and AST (b) levels with or without additional lifestyle interventions in patients with NAFLD [16,18,19,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Meta-analysis of randomized and controlled trials assessing the effect of vitamin E supplementation on ALT (a) and AST (b) levels by duration of the intervention in patients with NAFLD [16,18,19,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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