Vitamin D 25OH deficiency in COVID-19 patients admitted to a tertiary referral hospital.

This 129 person cohort study conducted in Italy did not report a relationship between vitamin D levels and health outcomes in the enrolled COVID-19 population.

• The prevalence of 25(OH)vitamin D insufficiency, deficiency and severe deficiency was 13.2%, 22.5% and 54.3%, respectively.
• 25(OH)vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL) was not associated with COVID-19 clinical features and outcomes.
• After adjusting for major issues that might influence outcomes such as age, sex, C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation), ischemic heart disease and severe pneumonia, a significant positive association between increasing 25(OH)vitamin D levels and in-hospital mortality was observed.

129 patients (54.3% males, mean age 73.6 ± 13.9 years) were enrolled and 34 (26.4%) died during their hospital stay at an Italian referral hospital in the COVID-19 outbreak region of Lombardy (March–April 2020).

• This is a small sample size in 1 hospital.
• The majority of the subjects were severely vitamin D deficient, which may have been related to multiple conditions, such as obesity, diabetes and other chronic conditions.

Very low 25(OH)vitamin D levels were highly prevalent and suggestive of deficiency among hospitalized severe COVID-19 patients, but low 25(OH)vitamin D levels were not associated with outcome variables. Whether 25(OH)vitamin D adequacy may prevent COVID-19 infection or influence clinical outcomes needs to be assessed by adequately sized and designed population-based studies and intervention trials, respectively.

• The purpose of this single-center cohort study was to determine the prevalence of 25(OH)vitamin D deficiency in COVID-19 patients admitted to an Italian referral hospital and explore its association with clinical outcomes and the markers of disease severity.
• Serum 25(OH)vitamin D serum was assessed within 48 h of hospital admission and categorized into: normal (≥30 ng/mL), insufficient (<30 – ≥20 ng/mL), moderately deficienct (<20 – ≥10 ng/mL), severe deficienct (<10 ng/mL).

Cereda E, Bogliolo L, Klersy C, Lobascio F, Masi S, Crotti S, De Stefano L, Bruno R, Corsico AG, Di Sabatino A, Perlini S, Montecucco C, Caccialanza R; NUTRI-COVID19 IRCCS San Matteo Pavia Collaborative Group. Vitamin D 25OH deficiency in COVID-19 patients admitted to a tertiary referral hospital. Clin Nutr. 2020 Nov 2:S0261-5614(20)30601-4. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2020.10.055. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33187772; PMCID: PMC7605851