Is Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Level Associated with Severity of COVID-19? A Retrospective Study
Munachimso Kizito Mbata, Mireille Hunziker, Anja Makhdoomi, Giorgia Lüthi-Corridori, Maria Boesing, Stéphanie Giezendanner, Jürgen Muser, Anne B Leuppi-Taegtmeyer, Jörg D Leuppi
Journal of Clinical Medicine, doi:10.3390/jcm12175520
1) Background: SARS-COV2 infection has a clinical spectrum ranging from asymptomatic infection to COVID-19 with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Although vitamin D deficiency is often found in patients with ARDS, its role in COVID-19 is not clear. The aim of this study was to explore a possible association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the severity of COVID-19 in hospitalised patients. (2) Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we analysed data from 763 patients hospitalised for COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021. Patients were included in the study if serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D was assessed 30 days before or after hospital admission. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as <50 nmol/L (<20 ng/mL). The primary outcome was COVID-19 severity. (3) Results: The overall median serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was 54 nmol/L (IQR 35-76); 47% of the patients were vitamin D deficient. Most patients had mild to moderate COVID-19 and no differences were observed between vitamin D deficient and non-deficient patients (81% vs. 84% of patients, respectively p = 0.829). (4) Conclusion: No association was found between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and COVID-19 severity in this large observational study conducted over 2 years of the pandemic.
Informed Consent Statement: All patients whose written informed consent was obtained and those whose consent exception was permitted by the ethics committee were included in the study. Patients who had declined general consent for the use of health-related data and samples for research purposes were excluded. Conflicts of Interest: Jörg D. Leuppi has received unrestricted grant money unrelated to the project from AstraZeneca AG Switzerland, Boehringer GmbH Switzerland, GSK AG Switzerland and Merck Sharp & Dohme AG Switzerland. All authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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