Short Term, High Dose Vitamin D Supplementation for COVID-19

Summary

Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has affected the lives of millions of individuals globally and severely strained the medical community. Pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals far outnumber the symptomatic ones or those with severe disease. The transmission potential of SARS CoV-2 is potentially greator than earlier viral outbreaks of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Identification of asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2 infection is paramount to contain viral infection because of high transmission potential Routine measures of social distancing, personal hand hygiene and limited outdoor contact activities have shown benefits to limit corona virus infection. However, the role of vitamin D in SARS-CoV-2 infection is not explored despite the knowledge of an immunomodulatory role and protective effect of vitamin D against viral infections. It has been found that mortality from COVID-19 is more in countries with vitamin D deficiency. The role of therapeutic vitamin D supplementation in asymptomatic individuals with vitamin-D deficiency and COVID-19 is not known. Immune-modulatory effect of vitamin D is likely to be observed at 25(OH)D levels which are considered higher than that required for normal bone metabolism.An earlier SARS-CoV-2 negativity may have significant public health benefits in limiting the spread of the disease. Therefore, we hypothesise that high dose vitamin D supplementation in patients with COVID-19 and vitamin D deficiency may lead to SARS-CoV-2 negativity in greater proportions of patients associated with decrease in serological markers of inflammation.

Timeline

Start

2020-06-15

Primary completion

2021-03-30

Completion

2021-04-10

Publications

• Stroehlein JK, Wallqvist J, Iannizzi C, Mikolajewska A, Metzendorf MI, Benstoem C, Meybohm P, Becker M, Skoetz N, Stegemann M, Piechotta V. Vitamin D supplementation for the treatment of COVID-19: a living systematic review. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 May 24;5(5):CD015043. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD015043.
• Rastogi A, Bhansali A, Khare N, Suri V, Yaddanapudi N, Sachdeva N, Puri GD, Malhotra P. Short term, high-dose vitamin D supplementation for COVID-19 disease: a randomised, placebo-controlled, study (SHADE study). Postgrad Med J. 2022 Feb;98(1156):87-90. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-139065. Epub 2020 Nov 12.

Drugs

Indications