The Association between Vitamin D and Zinc Status and the Progression of Clinical Symptoms among Outpatients Infected with SARS-CoV-2 and Potentially Non-Infected Participants: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Sahar Golabi,Fatemeh Maghsoudi,Maryam Adelipour,Maghsud Piri,Maryam Seyedtabib,Katsuhiko Suzuki,Sara Mobarak,Reza Bagheri,Damoon Ashtary-Larky,Mahshid Naghashpour

doi:10.3390/nu13103368

Abstract

Vitamin D and zinc are important components of nutritional immunity. This study compared the serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and zinc in COVID-19 outpatients with those of potentially non-infected participants. The association of clinical symptoms with vitamin D and zinc status was also examined. A checklist and laboratory examination were applied to collect data in a cross-sectional study conducted on 53 infected outpatients with COVID-19 and 53 potentially non-infected participants. Serum concentration of 25(OH)D were not significantly lower in patients with moderate illness (19 ± 12 ng/mL) than patients with asymptomatic or mild illness (29 ± 18 ng/mL), with a trend noted for a lower serum concentration of 25(OH)D in moderate than asymptomatic or mild illness patients (p = 0.054). Infected patients (101 ± 18 µg/dL) showed a lower serum concentration of zinc than potentially non-infected participants (114 ± 13 µg/dL) (p = 0.01). Patients with normal (odds ratio (OR), 0.19; p ≤ 0.001) and insufficient (OR, 0.3; p = 0.007) vitamin D status at the second to seventh days of disease had decreased OR of general symptoms compared to patients with vitamin D deficiency. This study revealed the importance of 25(OH)D measurement to predict the progression of general and pulmonary symptoms and showed that infected patients had significantly lower zinc concentrations than potentially non-infected participants.

Highlights

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a worldwide pandemic that originally emerged in Wuhan, China [1]
Patients who tested positive for COVID-19 by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were followed up from day 1 to day 28 after the onset of symptoms to evaluate the effect of vitamin D and zinc status at the second to seventh days of disease on the symptom progression during the clinical course of COVID-19
Non-infected participants: individuals whose COVID-19 had not been confirmed based on the RT-PCR test with no history of positive RT-PCR test during the COVID-19 pandemic or recovering COVID recently, no clinical signs associated with COVID-19, including high fever, and high-risk occupations, including medical staff

Summary

Introduction

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a worldwide pandemic that originally emerged in Wuhan, China [1]. COVID-19 is characterized by the symptoms of viral pneumonia, such as fever, fatigue, dry cough, and lymphopenia. Patients have reported comorbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, kidney disease, and malignant tumors [3]. This disease affects physical activity, sedentary action, and psychological emotion [4]. While therapeutic options are still under investigation, and some vaccines have been approved, cost-effective ways to reduce the probability of or even prevent infection and the shift from mild symptoms to more serious detrimental disease are highly worthwhile [5]

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Discussion

Conclusion