Is there a link between vitamin D status, SARS‐CoV‐2 infection risk and COVID‐19 severity?

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID‐19 emerged in December 2019 rapidly spread across the globe and has become pandemic. Little is known about the protective factors of this infection, which is equally distributed between genders and different ages while severe and poor prognosis cases are strongly associated to old males and the presence of comorbidities. Thus, preventive measures aiming at reducing the number of infection and/or their severity are strongly needed. Vitamin D has got great attention and has been claimed as potentially protective against the infection since it may be associated with immunocompetence, inflammation, aging, and those diseases involved in determining the outcomes of COVID‐19. This narrative review aims at collecting the literature available on the involvement of the vitamin D status in the pathogenesis of COVID‐19 and the putative utility of vitamin D supplementation in the therapeutics. It emerges that a poor vitamin D status seems to associate with an increased risk of infection whereas age, gender and comorbidities seem to play a more important role in COVID‐19 severity and mortality. While randomized control trials are needed to better inquire into this topic, vitamin D supplementation may be useful beside its potential effects on SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and COVID‐19.

Effects of Vitamin D on COVID-19 Infection and Prognosis: A Systematic Review

“… 19 , 20 A narrative review aimed at collecting the literature available on involvement of vitamin D status in the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and the putative utility of vitamin D supplementation in therapeutics concluded that poor vitamin D status seems to be associated with an increased risk of infection, whereas age, sex, and comorbidities seemed to play a more important role in COVID-19 severity and mortality. 21 There is a need to generalize and summarize the findings of individual studies to synthesize evidence that helps make COVID-19 prevention effective. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to undertake a systematic review to summarize and determine whether there is a relation between vitamin D status and COVID-19 infection and prognosis.…”

Walter Patrick Memorial Lecture: COVID Pandemic Public Health Consequences and Prospects and How It Will Change Public Health Education

“…26 A role that Schools of Public Health must undertake is to evaluate proposed interventions in light of conflicting evidence. 27,28…”

Changes in 25-(OH) Vitamin D Levels during the SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak: Lockdown-Related Effects and First-to-Second Wave Difference—An Observational Study from Northern Italy

“…As very recently reviewed, in addition to its classical hormone action related to calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism, vitamin D is supposed to be more or less directly involved in a plethora of physiological mechanisms aimed at maintaining the whole-body homeostasis. For example, in recent years, vitamin D has emerged as a potential immune modulator [2]. The most active metabolite of the vitamers D, 1α,25-(OH) 2 D [3], regulates development, maturation, and functioning of different lineages of immune cells [4].…”

“…Several reports have evidenced the association and sometimes, a causal link between hypovitaminosis D status and both the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the severity and mortality of COVID-19 [2]. However, since the different approaches applied and the great differences in the cohorts studied, these associations have not always been confirmed [21].…”