Abstract: Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 320: E520–E526, 2021. First published January 6, 2021; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00517.2020 RESEARCH ARTICLE Exploring the link between vitamin D and clinical outcomes in COVID-19 Prateek Lohia,1 Paul Nguyen,1 Neel Patel,1 and Shweta Kapur2 1 Department of Internal Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan and 2Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan Abstract The immunomodulating role of vitamin D might play a role in COVID-19 disease. We studied the association between vitamin D and clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients. This is a retrospective cohort study on COVID-19 patients with documented vitamin D levels within the last year. Vitamin D levels were grouped as
20 ng/mL or < 20 ng/mL. Main outcomes were mortality, need for mechanical ventilation, new DVT or pulmonary embolism, and ICU admission. A total of 270 patients (mean ± SD) age, 63.81 (14.69) years); 117 (43.3%) males; 216 (80%) Blacks; 139 (51.5%) in 65 and older age group were included. Vitamin D levels were less than 20 ng/mL in 95 (35.2%) patients. During admission, 72 patients (26.7%) died, 59 (21.9%) needed mechanical ventilation, and 87 (32.2%) required ICU. Vitamin D levels showed no significant association with mortality (OR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.39–1.24; P = 0.21), need for mechanical ventilation (OR = 1.23; 95% CI, 0.68–2.24; P = 0.49), new DVT or PE(OR= 0.92; 95% CI, 0.16–5.11; P = 1.00) or ICU admission (OR = 1.38; 95% CI, 0.81–2.34; P = 0.23). We did not find any significant association of vitamin D levels with mortality, the need for mechanical ventilation, ICU admission and the development of thromboembolism in COVID-19 patients. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Low vitamin D has been associated with increased frequency and severity of respiratory tract infections in the past. Current literature linking clinical outcomes in COVID-19 with low vitamin D is debatable. This study evaluated the role of vitamin D in severe disease outcomes among COVID-19 patients and found no association of vitamin D levels with mortality, the need for mechanical ventilation, ICU admission, and thromboembolism in COVID-19. vitamin D; mortality; critical care; mechanical ventilation; thromboembolism