COVID-19 and Vitamin D studies - Dec 2021

https://vitamin-d-covid.shotwell.ca/

Supplementation studies - Dec 2021

Randomized
Supports link to vitamin D

• A parallel pilot randomized open label trial of 76 patients in Spain found that the administration of calcifediol reduced ICU admission and mortality. Of the 50 patients treated with 1000 ug of calcifediol. 13/26 patients in the control group required ICU care compared with 1 in the intervention group. A subsequent statistical analysis showed that decreased ICU admissions were not due to uneven distribution of comorbidities or other prognostic indicators, to imperfect blinding, or to chance, but were instead associated with the calcifediol intervention. (Castillo et all, August 2020)
• A randomized, placebo controlled trial found that therapeutic, high-dose cholecalciferol supplementation led to SARS-CoV-2 RNA negative status in additional 41.7% of mildly symptomatic Covid patients (p<0.001) and was useful for viral SARS-CoV-2 RNA clearance.
• A randomized open-label trial of 87 vitamin D deficient Covid patients found that supplementation of 60,000 IU/day for 8-10 days reduced inflammatory biomarkers including CRP and IL-6. (Lakkireddy et al, 2021)
• A randomized open-label trial of 69 hospitalized patients found that those who received 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily recovered from cough and ageusia more quickly than those who received 1,000 IU. This study seems to suffer from the multiple testing problem and its conclusions should be treated with a grain of salt. (Sabico et al, August 2021)
• A randomized controlled open-label trial of 50 hospitalized Covid patients found that calcitriol supplementation improved the respiratory status (SpO2/FIO2) of treated patients. (Elamir et al, September 2021)
• A randomized, blinded, placebo controlled trial (n = 106) found that patients treated with low dose calcifediol (25 ug) had a better neutrophile to lymphocyte ration than controls. The trial did not detect a significant difference in mortality, ICU admission, or length of hospital stay. (Maghbooli et al, October 2021)

Does not support vitamin D link

• A randomized, placebo controlled trial of 240 patients found that a one-time supplementation of 200,000 IU of vitamin D, on average 10 days after symptom onset did not reduce the length of hospital stay in severe Covid-19 patients. The treatment was safe and well tolerated.
• A study of 175 ICU patients found that high-dose paraternal vitamin D did not reduce the need for mechanical ventilation or death. Note that vitamin D was administered after ICU admission. (Güven and Gültekin, July 2021)

Non-Randomized

Supports vitamin D

1. A ward randomized trial of 984 patients found that those supplemented with calcifediol had a lower ICU admissions rate and mortality rate than the control wards. (Nogues et all, June 2021)
2. A large propensity score matched study of 16,000 patients found that calcifediol and cholecalciferol supplementation were associated with large reductions in Covid–19 mortality. (Loucera et al, April 2021)
3. A cohort study of 574 patients in Spain found that calcifediol supplementation was associated with a significant decrease in in-hospital mortality with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.16. (Alcala-Diaz et al, May 2021)
4. A small cohort trial found that just 16% of patients who received vitamin D, magnesium, and vitamin B12 required oxygen compared with 61.5% of the previous cohort who did not receive DBM supplementation. (Chuen Wen Tan, October 2020)
5. A retrospective study found that hospitalized patients who were treated with vitamin D were less likely to die than those who did not receive vitamin D. (Ling et all, October 2020)
6. A retrospective study found that French nursing home residents who had recently received a bolus dose of vitamin D were more likely to survive a Covid-19 infection than residents who had not recently received a supplement. 92% of the 57 people who received vitamin D survived, while 66% of the 9 people in the cooperator group survived. (Anweller et. al, October 2020)
7. A retrospective study found that regular bolus vitamin D supplementation was associated with less severe COVID-19 and better survival in frail elderly. (Anweller et. al, November 2020)
8. A follow-up study found that geriatric Covid patients who received regular vitamin D supplementation prior to infection were less likely to experience severe disease or to die than patients who either were not supplemented, or were supplemented after infection. ((Anweller et. al, July 2021)
9. A multi-center observational study of 1,000 hospitalized Covid patients found that Cholecalciferol supplementation was associated with lower mortality. (Ling et al, December 2020)
10. An observational study of Italian nursing home residents found that vitamin D was associated with a lower risk of dying. The authors note that “in the absence of contraindications … the administration of cholecalciferol in older subjects could be strongly advocated.” (Cangiano et al, December 2020)
11. A retrospective Catalonian study found that patients with chronic kidney disease who were treated with calcitriol were less likely to develop severe Covid or die than matched controls. (Oristrell et al, April 2021)
12. A large restrospective cohort study of Spanish Covid patients found that patients who had taken calcifediol or cholecalciferol had better who achieved serum levels greater than 30 ng/ml had better Covid outcomes than propensity matched controls. (Oristrell et al, July 2021)
13. A Turkish study found that hospitalized vitamin D deficient patients who were supplemented with 300,000 IU of vitamin D had a lower mortality rate than controls. (Yidiz et al, September 2021)
14. A cohort study of 16,000 Spanish Covid patients found that patients who had received vitamin D perscriptions prior to Covid hospitalization were less likely to die than those who hadn’t received a perscription The effect was larger for patients perscribed calcifediol, and for those whose perscription was closer to the date of hospitalization. (Loucera et al, December 2021)

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See also Vitamin D Life

Vitamin D and COVID, review of evidence, loading dose if less than 50 ng - Masterjohn Sept 2021
Influence of Vitamin D on COVID-19 (Guidebook) - Benskin Sept 2021
Virus meta-analyses and Systematic Reviews

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