Effect of Serum Vitamin D on COVID-19

Image of a virion

 

ALBANY, N.Y. (January 6, 2021) – In a recent study, Professors Shao Lin and Benjamin Shaw collaborated with Dr. Kun Ye and a team from the People’s Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, China to evaluate the effect of serum vitamin D level on COVID-19 infection and its severity. The researchers found that vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a risk factor for COVID-19, especially for critical cases.    

The study compared serum vitamin D levels and rates of VDD between 80 healthy individuals and 62 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in China. The patients hospitalized with the virus were categorized as “asymptomatic”, “mild/moderate” and “severe/critical” based on the severity of their infection.    

Results of the analysis showed that serum vitamin D concentrations in COVID-19 patients were much lower than in healthy individuals. In fact, patients’ concentrations of serum vitamin D reduced as their level of COVID-19 severity increased. In addition, COVID-19 patients had significantly higher rates of VDD than those found in healthy individuals. VDD was the greatest in severe/critical cases, compared with mild cases. Thus, the researchers concluded that vitamin D supplementation may be a useful treatment for those diagnosed with COVID-19.  

As the search for COVID-19 therapeutics continues around the world, the results of this study are useful for identifying supplemental vitamin D as a potential treatment or preventive measure for combating the virus.    

The full article is available in the Journal of American College of Nutrition.