- In this study, the investigators are going to find out the optimum regimen to be used for effective treatment of vitamin D deficiency in those patients and to study the effect of vitamin D treatment on liver fibrosis.
Vitamin D is a hormone involved in the regulation of mineral homeostasis. It protects skeletal integrity and modulates cell growth and differentiation . It is lipid soluble in nature and interacts with vitamin D receptors and regulates the expression of more than 200 genes, mostly involved in apoptosis, cell growth, and cell differentiation .
Fibroscan: as a non-invasive imaging study for measuring liver cirrhosis by transducer probe-induced elastic share wave that propagates through liver tissue to measure its velocity. It is a promising noninvasive method for detection of cirrhosis in patients with chronic liver disease. Therefore, fibroscan can be used regarding the decision of treatment and follow-up of patients with cirrhosis for screening and detection of the complications . In our study the investigators will assess liver fibrosis before and after vitamin D therapy using fibroscan.
Group A: who received stoss parenteral vitamin D therapy (200.000 IU) once followed by 600 IU/ day orally (equivalent to RDA as maintenance).
Group B: who received 50.000 IU/ week vitamin D orally for four weeks followed by the maintenance dose.
The total duration of therapy was 6 months in both groups .
