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. 2020 Jul;20(4):e107-e108.
doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0301. Epub 2020 Jun 5.

Does vitamin D deficiency increase the severity of COVID-19?

E Kenneth Weir  1 , Thenappan Thenappan  2 , Maneesh Bhargava  3 , Yingjie Chen  4
Affiliations

Does vitamin D deficiency increase the severity of COVID-19?

E Kenneth Weir et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2020 Jul.

Abstract

The severity of coronavirus 2019 infection (COVID-19) is determined by the presence of pneumonia, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), myocarditis, microvascular thrombosis and/or cytokine storms, all of which involve underlying inflammation. A principal defence against uncontrolled inflammation, and against viral infection in general, is provided by T regulatory lymphocytes (Tregs). Treg levels have been reported to be low in many COVID-19 patients and can be increased by vitamin D supplementation. Low vitamin D levels have been associated with an increase in inflammatory cytokines and a significantly increased risk of pneumonia and viral upper respiratory tract infections. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increase in thrombotic episodes, which are frequently observed in COVID-19. Vitamin D deficiency has been found to occur more frequently in patients with obesity and diabetes. These conditions are reported to carry a higher mortality in COVID-19. If vitamin D does in fact reduce the severity of COVID-19 in regard to pneumonia/ARDS, inflammation, inflammatory cytokines and thrombosis, it is our opinion that supplements would offer a relatively easy option to decrease the impact of the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID 19; Treg; Vitamin D; coronavirus; inflammation.

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Comment in

  • Vitamin D binding protein in COVID-19.
    Speeckaert MM, Speeckaert R, Delanghe JR. Speeckaert MM, et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2020 Sep;20(5):e136-e137. doi: 10.7861/clinmed.Let.20.5.2. Clin Med (Lond). 2020. PMID: 32934054 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
  • Vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19.
    Anderson DC, Grimes DS. Anderson DC, et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2020 Nov;20(6):e282-e283. doi: 10.7861/clinmed.Let.20.6.9. Clin Med (Lond). 2020. PMID: 33199348 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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