Low Vitamin D Levels Are Associated With Long COVID Syndrome in COVID-19 Survivors.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab
; 108(10): e1106-e1116, 2023 09 18.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37051747
ABSTRACT
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 11 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.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vitamin D Deficiency
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
/
Diagnostic_studies
/
Guideline
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
J Clin Endocrinol Metab
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italy