Abstract: Endocrine (2021) 71:267–269
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-020-02597-7
RESEARCH LETTER
Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have low levels of
25-hydroxyvitamin D
Nicholas Hutchings 1,2 Varta Babalyan2 Sisak Baghdasaryan2 Mushegh Qefoyan2 Narina Sargsyants3
Elena Aghajanova4 Anna Martirosyan5 Ruzanna Harutyunyan5 Olga Lesnyak6 Anna Maria Formenti7
Andrea Giustina7 John P. Bilezikian2,8
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Received: 24 November 2020 / Accepted: 17 December 2020 / Published online: 16 January 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature 2021
The coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) causes COVID-19. The
disease has already afflicted over 54 million persons
worldwide and has caused over 1.3 million deaths [1].
While most patients recovery uneventfully, some develop
an acute pulmonary syndrome that requires hospitalization
for supportive care [2]. Risk factors for symptomatic manifestations include male sex, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and
hypertension [3, 4]. Another recently recognized potential
risk factor is vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is an
important modulator of innate and acquired immunity
[5, 6]. Low levels are associated with bacterial and viral
infections [7]. In addition, in countries with lower mean
levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, mortality from COVID-19
is higher [8]. Preliminary studies suggest that vitamin D
supplementation may improve outcomes [9]. While much of
the data implicating vitamin D and COVID-19 has been
indirect, recent reports have shown markedly reduced levels
of 25-hydroxyvitamin D among those hospitalized with
COVID-19 [10, 11]. These observations are consistent with
* Nicholas Hutchings
nicholas.hutchings@uci.edu
1
School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
2
Osteoporosis Center of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia
3
Ministry of Health, Yerevan, Armenia
4
Muratsan University Hospital, Yerevan, Armenia
5
Saint Gregory the Illuminator Medical Center, Yerevan, Armenia
6
North West State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov,
Saint Petersburg, Russia
7
Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Sciences, San Raffaele,
Vita-Salute University and IRCCS Hospital, Milano, Italy
8
Endocrinology Division, Department of Medicine, New YorkPresbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Irving Medical
Center, New York, NY, USA
a plausible pathophysiological role of vitamin D in the
disease process [6].
With an ethnically and culturally homogeneous population of approximately 3 million [12], Armenia has seen
~116,000 cases and 1700 deaths as of November 2020 [13].
At the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Medical Center
(SGIMC) in Yerevan, a designated COVID-19 treatment
hospital, we measured levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. We
compared these levels with values that we have recently
characterized in the free-living, healthy population of
Armenia [14].
Methods
Blood samples for measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D
(ElectroChemiLuminescence immunoassay: Cobas e 411
autoanalyzer- Roche; Basel, Switzerland) were obtained from
330 consecutive hospitalized patients. We also recorded age,
gender, height, weight, occupation, chronic conditions, prior
tuberculosis infection, smoking status, use of supplemental
oxygen, intubation status, duration of hospitalization until
discharge, or death.
Results
Samples were collected over 5 weeks in summer, 2020. The
most common comorbidities were hypertension,..
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