Vitamin D not effective for treating patients with moderate to severe COVID 19: JAMA
Brazil: A single high dose of vitamin D3 does not significantly reduce hospital length of stay in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. suggests a recent study. The findings, published in the journal JAMA, does not support the use of vitamin D3 for treating patients with moderate to severe COVID-19.
Vitamin D supplementation is shown to enhance immunity by improving the function of macrophages and dendritic cells. Vitamin D insufficiency is a potential risk factor for acute respiratory tract and noncommunicable diseases.
Optimal serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D has been suggested to have immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties that could possibly be beneficial for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the benefits of vitamin D3 supplementation for COVID-19 remains unclear. Considering this, Igor H. Murai, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues aimed to investigate the effect of a single high dose of vitamin D3 on hospital length of stay in patients with COVID-19.
For the purpose, the researchers conducted a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 2 sites in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The study included 240 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who were moderately to severely ill at the time of enrollment.
They were randomly assigned to receive either a single oral dose of 200 000 IU of vitamin D3 (n = 120) or placebo (n = 120). The primary outcome was length of stay, defined as the time from the date of randomization to hospital discharge.
Of 240 randomized patients, 237 were included in the primary analysis.
Key findings of the study include:
- Median (interquartile range) length of stay was not significantly different between the vitamin D3 (7.0 days) and placebo groups (7.0 days) (hazard ratio for hospital discharge, 1.07).
- The difference between the vitamin D3 group and the placebo group was not significant for in-hospital mortality (7.6% vs 5.1%), admission to the intensive care unit (16.0% vs 21.2%), or need for mechanical ventilation (7.6% vs 14.4%).
- Mean serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D significantly increased after a single dose of vitamin D3 vs placebo (44.4 ng/mL vs 19.8 ng/mL).
- There were no adverse events, but an episode of vomiting was associated with the intervention.
"Among hospitalized patients with COVID-19, a single high dose of vitamin D3, compared with placebo, did not significantly reduce hospital length of stay. The findings do not support the use of vitamin D3 for treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19," concluded the authors.
The study titled, "Effect of a Single High Dose of Vitamin D3 on Hospital Length of Stay in Patients With Moderate to Severe COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial," is published in the journal JAMA.
DOI: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776738
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