Long COVID associated with Low Vitamin D – Oct 2023
Low Vitamin D Levels Are Associated With Long COVID Syndrome in COVID-19 Survivors
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol108, Issue 10, October 2023 https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgad207
Luigi di Filippo, Stefano Frara, Fabrizio Nannipieri, Alice Cotellessa, Massimo Locatelli, Patrizia Rovere Querini, Andrea Giustina
Vitamin D was the only statistically significant factor
Context
Long COVID is an emerging syndrome affecting 50% to 70% of COVID-19 survivors that still lacks predicting factors.
Objective
Due to the extraskeletal effects of vitamin D, we retrospectively assessed the association between 25(OH) vitamin D levels and long COVID in COVID-19 survivors 6 months after hospitalization.
Methods
Long COVID was defined according to NICE guidelines. Fifty long COVID and 50 non–long-COVID subjects matched on a 1:1 basis were enrolled from an outpatient clinic post-COVID cohort seen from August to November 2020. Therapies/comorbidities affecting calcium/vitamin D/bone metabolism, and/or admission to the intensive care unit during hospitalization were exclusion criteria. 25(OH) Vitamin D was measured at hospital admission and 6 months after discharge.
Results
We observed lower 25(OH) vitamin D levels, evaluated at follow-up, in subjects with long COVID than those without (20.1 vs 23.2 ng/mL, P = .03). Regarding the affected health areas evaluated in the entire cohort, we observed lower 25(OH) vitamin D levels in those with neurocognitive symptoms at follow-up (n = 7) than those without (n = 93) (14.6 vs 20.6 ng/mL, P = .042). In patients presenting vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL), both at admission and at follow-up (n = 42), those affected by long COVID (n = 22) presented lower 25(OH) vitamin D levels at follow-up than those not affected (n = 20) (12.7 vs 15.2 ng/mL, P = .041). In multiple regression analyses, lower 25(OH) vitamin D levels at follow-up were the only variable significantly associated with long COVID in our cohort (P = .008, OR 1.09, CI 1.01-1.16).
Conclusion
COVID-19 survivors with long COVID have lower 25(OH) vitamin D levels than matched patients without long COVID. Our data suggest that vitamin D levels should be evaluated in COVID-19 patients after hospital discharge. The role of vitamin D supplementation as a preventive strategy of COVID-19 sequelae should be tested in randomized controlled trials.
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