Vitamin D supplementation improves sustained virologic response in chronic hepatitis C (genotype 1)-naïve patients

Table 1 Baseline demographic, clinical and virologic characteristics of all patients

Baseline demographics	Peg/RBV (n = 36)	Peg/RBV + Vit D (n = 36)	P value
Age (yr)	49 ± 7	47 ± 11	0.123
Males (%)	60	50	0.015
Body mass index (kg/m2)	24 ± 3	27 ± 4	0.014
HCV genotype: 1a/1b (n)	3/33	3/33	0.138
Baseline HCV-RNA (log IU/mL)	6.2 ± 0.8	6.1 ± 0.7	0.126
High viral load	15 (42%)	18 (50%)	0.033
HCV-RNA > 800  000 IU/mL
Baseline ALT (U/L)	56 ± 31	55 ± 28	0.587
Advanced fibrosis (> F2)	7 (19%)	15 (42%)	0.001
Ethnicity (Russian /Jewish/Arab)	28/6/2	29/3/4	0.194

Peg/RBV: Pegylated interferon α and ribavirin; Vit D: Vitamin D; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HCV: Hepatitis C virus.

Table 2 Viral response, vitamin D levels, biomarkers of inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidative stress in all patients

Parameter	Peg/RBV (n = 36)	Peg/RBV + Vit D (n = 36)	P value
Viral response
Relapser	13 (36%)	3 (8%)	0.001
Non-responder	8 (22%)	2 (6%)	0.010
HOMA-IR
Baseline	4.6 ± 5.7	4.5 ± 1.4	0.123
After 4 wk	5.0 ± 4.0	2.3 ± 1.0a	0.001
Basal vitamin D-25-OH levels (ng/mL)	19 ± 6	20.5 ± 9.0	0.177
Malondialdehyde (mmol/L)	0.11 ± 0.05	0.13 ± 0.04	0.810
Paraoxonase (mmol/L/min)	0.57 ± 0.1	0.64 ± 0.1	0.120
Vitamin E (μg/mL)	19.7 ± 8.8	21 ± 8.0	0.510
Vitamin B12 pmol/L	316 ± 190	331 ± 170	0.103
CRP mg/dL	0.39 ± 0.3	0.45 ± 0.4	0.100
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	200 ± 80	220 ± 60	0.110

^aP < 0.001 between HOMA-IR at baseline and HOMA-IR after 4 wk of treatment with vitamin D. HOMA-IR: Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance; Peg/RBV: Pegylated interferon α and ribavirin; Vit D: Vitamin D; CRP: C-reactive protein.

Table 3 Predictors for sustained virologic response in treatment-naïve hepatitis C virus genotype 1 patients with pegylated interferon α and ribavirin combination therapy

	Odds ratio	95% CI	P value
Vitamin D treatment (Yes vs No)	2.5	2.0-4.9	< 0.001
Baseline vitamin D (< 20 or > 20 IU/mL)	1.5	1.2-3.8	0.080
Advanced fibrosis (< F2 or > F2)	2.0	1.0-3.6	0.001
High viral load (< 800  000 or > 800  000 IU/mL)	2.8	1.2-4.0	0.001
Baseline CRP (< 0.05 or > 0.5 mg/dL)	1.0	0.5-1.9	0.510
Changes in homeostasis model assessment (%)	1.8	0.5-3.0	0.030

CRP: C-reactive protein; CI: Confidence interval.