PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

25-hydroxyvitamin D is a predictor of COVID-19 severity of hospitalized patients.

  • Nguyen N Nguyen,
  • Muppala N P Raju,
  • Briget da Graca,
  • Dapeng Wang,
  • Nada A Mohamed,
  • Manohar B Mutnal,
  • Arundhati Rao,
  • Monica Bennett,
  • Matthew Gokingco,
  • Huy Pham,
  • Amin A Mohammad

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268038
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 5
p. e0268038

Abstract

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ObjectivesStudies investigating the association between vitamin D and severity of COVID-19 have mixed results perhaps due to immunoassay assessment of total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (tD) (the sum of 25-hydroxyvitamin-D2 [25-OH-D2] and 25-hydroxyvitamin-D3 [25-OH-D3]). Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has high analytical specificity and sensitivity for 25-OH-D2 and 25-OH-D3, and thus enables a more accurate assessment of impact on COVID-19 outcomes.MethodsWe established reference intervals for 25-OH-D3 and tD using LC-MS/MS. 25-OH-D2, 25-OH-D3 and tD were quantitated for 88 COVID-19 positive and 122 COVID-19 negative specimens. Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were used to test associations in binary variables. T-Tests or Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used for continuous variables. Cox proportional hazards were used to test associations between 25-OH-D3 or tD levels and length of stay (LOS). For mortality and ventilation, logistic regression models were used.ResultsCOVID-19 patients with deficient (ConclusionsThere is an inverse relationship of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and hospital LOS for COVID-19 patients. Vitamin D status is a predictor for severity of outcomes. LCMS results are useful for assessing the odds of mortality and the need for ventilation during hospitalization.