Vitamin D Levels Are Reduced at the Time of Hospital Admission in Sicilian SARS-CoV-2-Positive Patients

Agostino Gaudio, Andrea Ruben Murabito, Antonella Agodi, Arturo Montineri, Pietro Castellino and D.O.CoV Research
Additional contact information
Agostino Gaudio: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Andrea Ruben Murabito: San Marco Hospital, 95121 Catania, Italy
Antonella Agodi: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Arturo Montineri: San Marco Hospital, 95121 Catania, Italy
Pietro Castellino: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
D.O.CoV Research: The list of members of the D.O.CoV Research Group is shown in Acknowledgments.

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-9

Abstract: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a worldwide healthcare challenge that needs an efficient response. Unfortunately, to date there is no highly effective treatment, so a deep understanding of COVID-19 risk factors could be an important step in treating the disease. Vitamin D affects the immune system in many different ways, and other authors already found that COVID-19 patients have low levels of vitamin D. In our retrospective study, we evaluated the vitamin D status at the time of hospital admission in 50 COVID-19 patients in Sicily, which is the southernmost region of Italy, and compared them with 100 control subjects matched for age and sex. Our data showed markedly low levels of vitamin D in patients with a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but no association was found with inflammation markers or clinical severity. Vitamin D levels were reduced at the time of hospital admission in Sicilian SARS-CoV-2-positive patients, but it is not clear whether this condition has an impact on the clinical course of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; vitamin D; Sicily; immune system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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