Irisin contributes to the hepatoprotective effect of vitamin D in a choline deficient diet induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease rat model.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a growing cause of liver morbidity and mortality globally with no proven effective therapy yet. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of vitamin D treatment on choline deficient (CD) diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) like lesions in rats, with the possible involvement of irisin in this effect. Thirty-two rats were divided into 4 equal groups; control group, vitamin D group, CD diet group, CD diet+ vitamin D group. It was found that CD diet led to significant elevations in liver weight and index, serum liver enzymes, hepatic triglycerides (TG), malondialdehyde (MDA), inflammatory markers with significant decreases in serum 25-(OH) D3, irisin, hepatic antioxidants and peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor alpha (PPAR–α). Administration of vitamin D caused a significant improvement in all previous parameters, these results were supported by histopathological examination. It seems that vitamin D supplementation significantly reduced NAFLD induced by CD diet even in part due to irisin.