Importance of Vitamin D3 in COVID-19 Patients

Outbreaks of a respiratory ailment in Wuhan, China, known as the Corona virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), began in late December 2019. Since then, several pieces of advice have been made to boost the immune system to fight more efficiently with this infection. Previously published studies showed that vitamin D3 (Vit D3) level was low in COVID-19 patients. One of the most important factors in COVID-19 severity would be the inflammatory response. It is well documented that the inflammatory cytokine storm increases the severity of COVID-19. Cytokine storm results from dysregulation of the innate immune system with an outpouring of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, leading to abnormal activation of the adaptive immune pathway. It has been approved that Vit D3 has immunomodulatory functions and plays an anti-inflammatory role, particularly in viral infections. Therefore, the current study was designed to investigate the possible role of Vit D3 deficiency in the COVID-19 patients' innate immunity. This study included 180 participants who were divided into group (A) consisted of 60 COVID-19 positive patients with normal level of Vit D3, group (B) consisted of 60 COVID-19 positive patients with Vit D3 deficiency, and group (C) consisted of 60 COVID-19 positive patients that had received Vit D3 therapy. The results showed that the rate of hospitalization in the group (B) (41.3%) was significantly increased, compared to group (A) (12.5%). In this regard, Vit D3 therapy led to a significant increase in the level of Vit D3, and the patients who received Vit D3 were recovered from hospital 5 days on average sooner than those in the group (B). Therefore, the consumption of Vit D3 as a daily supplement would be a reasonable suggestion for these days of the COVID-19 pandemic to increase the power of immunity of the body.