The importance of vitamin d metabolism as a potential prophylactic, immunoregulatory and neuroprotective treatment for COVID-19
Xu et al.,
The importance of vitamin d metabolism as a potential prophylactic, immunoregulatory and neuroprotective..,
Journal of Translational Medicine, doi:10.1186/s12967-020-02488-5 (Review)
Review of vitamin D for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, focusing on preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection, acting as an immunosuppressant inhibiting cytokine release syndrome, and preventing loss of neural sensation by stimulating expression of neurotrophins like Nerve Growth Factor (NGF).
Xu et al., 26 Aug 2020, peer-reviewed, 8 authors.
Abstract: (2020) 18:322
Xu et al. J Transl Med
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-020-02488-5
Journal of
Translational Medicine
Open Access
REVIEW
The importance of vitamin d metabolism
as a potential prophylactic, immunoregulatory
and neuroprotective treatment for COVID‑19
Yi Xu1,2,3* , David J. Baylink2, Chien‑Shing Chen1,3, Mark E. Reeves1,3, Jeffrey Xiao2, Curtis Lacy1, Eric Lau1
and Huynh Cao1,3
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a declaration of a Public Health Emergency of Interna‑
tional Concern by the World Health Organization. As of May 18, 2020, there have been more than 4.7 million cases and
over 316,000 deaths worldwide. COVID-19 is caused by a highly infectious novel coronavirus known as severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), leading to an acute infectious disease with mild-to-severe clini‑
cal symptoms such as flu-like symptoms, fever, headache, dry cough, muscle pain, loss of smell and taste, increased
shortness of breath, bilateral viral pneumonia, conjunctivitis, acute respiratory distress syndromes, respiratory failure,
cytokine release syndrome (CRS), sepsis, etc. While physicians and scientists have yet to discover a treatment, it is
imperative that we urgently address 2 questions: how to prevent infection in immunologically naive individuals and
how to treat severe symptoms such as CRS, acute respiratory failure, and the loss of somatosensation. Previous studies
from the 1918 influenza pandemic have suggested vitamin D’s non-classical role in reducing lethal pneumonia and
case fatality rates. Recent clinical trials also reported that vitamin D supplementation can reduce incidence of acute
respiratory infection and the severity of respiratory tract diseases in adults and children. According to our literature
search, there are no similar findings of clinical trials that have been published as of July 1st, 2020, in relation to the
supplementation of vitamin D in the potential prevention and treatment for COVID-19. In this review, we summarize
the potential role of vitamin D extra-renal metabolism in the prevention and treatment of the SARS-CoV-2 infection,
helping to bring us slightly closer to fulfilling that goal. We will focus on 3 major topics here:
1. Vitamin D might aid in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection:
• Vitamin D: Overview of Renal and Extra-renal metabolism and regulation.
• Vitamin D: Overview of molecular mechanism and multifaceted functions beyond skeletal homeostasis.
• Vitamin D: Overview of local immunomodulation in human infectious diseases.
– Anti-viral infection.
– Anti-malaria and anti-systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
*Correspondence: dyxu@llu.edu
1
Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Loma
Linda University, Loma Linda, California, USA
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
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