Blackmores Institute

Investigating the associations of plasma 25(OH)D status with the likelihood of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection and hospitalisation in 7,807 individuals - 782 (10.1%) were COVID-19-positive and 7,025 (89.9%) COVID-19-negative, the study found that the mean plasma vitamin D level was significantly lower among those who tested positive than negative for COVID-19 [19.00 ng/mL (95% confidence interval [CI] 18.41-19.59) vs. 20.55 (95% CI 20.32-20.78)].“After multivariate analysis, and controlling for the demographic variables, psychiatric and somatic disorders, an independent and significant association between a low 25(OH)D level and the increased likelihood of COVID-19 infection [adjusted OR of 1.50 (95% CI 1.13-1.98, p&lt;0.001)] was found,” the researchers reported.In agreement with results of other studies investigating vitamin D levels and risk of infection, the study found low 25(OH)D level was identified as independently associated with the likelihood of COVID-19 infection. Further, reduced risk of acute respiratory tract infection following vitamin D supplementation was reported.“Surprisingly, chronic medical conditions, like dementia, cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung disease that were considered to be very risky in previous studies were not found as increasing the rate of infection in our study. However, this finding is highly biased by the severe social contacts restrictions that were imposed on all the population and were even more emphasised in this highly vulnerable population,” the authors said.While acknowledging the major weakness of the study was its retrospective database design, the authors considered its large, real-world and population-based study design a strength and therefore permits the findings of the study to be used as guidance for healthcare systems for identifying populations at risk.“Our study found that suboptimal plasma vitamin D levels may be a potential risk factor for COVID-19 infection, particularly, for the high hospitalisation risks, independent of demographic characteristics and medical conditions.“The finding is important, since it could guide healthcare systems in identifying populations at risk, and contribute to interventions aimed to reduce the risk of the COVID-19 infection,” the authors concluded.
 
 Source: 
 FEBS J. 2020. DOI:<a href="https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/febs.15495">10.1111/febs.15495</a>

Low plasma vitamin D levels appear to be an independent risk factor for respiratory infection and hospitalisation new research from Israel has reported.

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