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Review
. 2022 Aug 21;14(16):3439.
doi: 10.3390/nu14163439.

The Mutual Relationship among Cardiovascular Diseases and COVID-19: Focus on Micronutrients Imbalance

Paolo Severino  1 , Andrea D'Amato  1 , Silvia Prosperi  1 , Vincenzo Myftari  1 , Aurora Labbro Francia  1 , Merve Önkaya  1 , Claudia Notari  1 , Ilaria Papisca  1 , Elena Sofia Canuti  1 , Mia Yarden Revivo  1 , Lucia Ilaria Birtolo  1 , Paola Celli  2 , Gioacchino Galardo  3 , Viviana Maestrini  1 , Gabriella d'Ettorre  4 , Massimo Mancone  1 , Francesco Fedele  1
Affiliations
Review

The Mutual Relationship among Cardiovascular Diseases and COVID-19: Focus on Micronutrients Imbalance

Paolo Severino et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Micronutrients are ions and vitamins humbly required by the human body. They play a main role in several physiological mechanisms and their imbalance is strongly associated with potentially-fatal complications. Micronutrient imbalance is associated with many cardiovascular diseases, such as arrythmias, heart failure, and ischemic heart disease. It has been also observed in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly in most severe patients. The relationship between cardiovascular diseases and COVID-19 is mutual: the latter triggers cardiovascular disease onset and worsening while patients with previous cardiovascular disease may develop a more severe form of COVID-19. In addition to the well-known pathophysiological mechanisms binding COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases together, increasing importance is being given to the impact of micronutrient alterations, often present during COVID-19 and able to affect the balance responsible for a good functioning of the cardiovascular system. In particular, hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, hyponatremia, and hypocalcemia are strongly associated with worse outcome, while vitamin A and D deficiency are associated with thromboembolic events in COVID-19. Thus, considering how frequent the cardiovascular involvement is in patients with COVID-19, and how it majorly affects their prognosis, this manuscript provides a comprehensive review on the role of micronutrient imbalance in the interconnection between COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases.

Keywords: COVID-19; cardiovascular diseases; ions; micronutrients; nutrition; vitamins.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Micronutrients imbalance may contribute to cardiovascular complications observed during COVID-19. NO: nitric oxide; DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid; Mg2+: magnesium; K+: potassium; Zn2+: zinc; Ca2+: calcium; Fe2+/3+: iron; Na2+: sodium.
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