Conflicting evidence on Vitamin D efficacy in COVID-19 cases

Saudi Arabian investigators have determined that Vitamin D levels are not protective against the severity or the outcomes of COVID-19 infections,¹ according to Dania AlKhafaji, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, King Fahd Hospital of the University, Khobar, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.

This finding contradicts a recent study about the potential for Vitamin D as a prevention or treatment for COVID-19.²

AlKhafaji and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional observational study to determine an association between Vitamin D levels and the severity or outcomes of COVID-19 disease between January and August 2021.

The study included all patients who were admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with COVID-19. They then were subdivided based on the status of the Vitamin D levels categorized as normal, insufficient, or deficient.

The study authors analyzed the patients’ demographic data and laboratory results regardingthe COVID-19 severity.

Analysis of Vitamin D effects
The data collected from 203 patients who had been hospitalized and diagnosed with COVID-19 showed that the Vitamin D level was normal in 31 (15.3%) cases, insufficient in 45 (22.2%), and deficient in 127 (62.6%)

The COVID-19 cases were critical in 58 (28.6%) patients, severe in 109 (53.7%), and mild to moderate in 36 (17.7%).

Diabetes was the most prevalent comorbidity in 117 (57.6%) patients, followed by hypertension 70 (34.5%), cardiac disease 24 (11.8%), chronic kidney disease 19 (9.4%), and chronic respiratory disease in 17 (8.4%), Dr. AlKhafail reported.

“Importantly,” the authors said, “the current study in a hospital setting did not detect any significant association between [Vitamin] D status and COVID-19 severity (p value=0.371) or outcomes (hospital stay, intensive care units admission, ventilation, and mortality rate) (p value > 0.05), even after adjusting the statistical model for the confounders.”

They noted that further well‐designed studies should determine whether Vitamin D status provides protective effects against worse COVID-19 outcomes.

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References

1.AlKhafaji D, Al Argan R, Albaker W, et al. The impact of vitamin D Level on the severity and outcome of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 disease. Int J Gen Med 2022;2022:343-52;

2.Mansur JL, Tajer C, Mariani J, et al. Vitamin D high doses supplementation could represent a promising alternative to prevent or treat COVID-19 infection. Clin e Investig En Arterioscler 2020;32:267–277. doi:10.1016/j.arteri.2020.05.003