25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations Are Lower in Patients with Positive PCR for SARS-CoV-2

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 12; no. 5; p. 1359
• Main Authors: D’Avolio, Antonio, Avataneo, Valeria, Manca, Alessandra, Cusato, Jessica, De Nicolò, Amedeo, Lucchini, Renzo, Keller, Franco, Cantù, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 09.05.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Betacoronavirus - isolation & purification; Brief Report; Coronavirus infections; Coronavirus Infections - blood; Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; death; Dietary Supplements; Female; Gender; Humans; infection; Infections; Male; Middle Aged; nutrients; Pandemics; patients; Pneumonia, Viral - blood; Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis; Polymerase Chain Reaction; population; Public health; randomized clinical trials; Retrospective Studies; risk reduction; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Switzerland; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - administration & dosage; Vitamin D - analogs & derivatives; Vitamin D - blood; Womens health; Switzerland; United States > US; Germany; COVID-19; coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; concentrations; deficiency; vitamin D
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu12051359

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with a clinical outcome ranging from mild to severe, including death. To date, it is unclear why some patients develop severe symptoms. Many authors have suggested the involvement of vitamin D in reducing the risk of infections; thus, we retrospectively investigated the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations in plasma obtained from a cohort of patients from Switzerland. In this cohort, significantly lower 25(OH)D levels (p = 0.004) were found in PCR-positive for SARS-CoV-2 (median value 11.1 ng/mL) patients compared with negative patients (24.6 ng/mL); this was also confirmed by stratifying patients according to age >70 years. On the basis of this preliminary observation, vitamin D supplementation might be a useful measure to reduce the risk of infection. Randomized controlled trials and large population studies should be conducted to evaluate these recommendations and to confirm our preliminary observation.