Temporal Association of Reduced Serum Vitamin D with COVID-19 Infection: Two Single-Institution Case–Control Studies

Abstract

(1) Background: Vitamin D supplementation has been proposed for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, but it is not clear if reduced serum vitamin D predisposes individuals to COVID-19 and/or is a secondary consequence of infection. This study assessed the temporal association between serum vitamin D and COVID-19 with two single-institution case–control studies through the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Health System. (2) Methods: This study included patients who tested positive for COVID-19 from 1 January to 30 September 2020 with serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D) measured within 180 days of diagnosis. Patients were separated based on whether 25(OH)D was measured before (n = 107 cases, 214 controls) or after (n = 203 cases, 406 controls) COVID-19 diagnosis. COVID-19 infection status was the outcome variable in the pre-diagnosis study, whereas serum 25(OH)D level was the outcome variable in the post-diagnosis study. (3) Results: Serum 25(OH)D levels were not associated with the odds of subsequent COVID-19 infection (OR 1.0, 95% CI: 1.0 to 1.0, p = 0.98). However, COVID-19-positive individuals had serum 25(OH)D measurements that were 2.7 ng/mL lower than the controls (95% CI: −5.2 to −0.2, p = 0.03). (4) Conclusions: In our study population, serum 25(OH)D levels were not associated with the risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection but were reduced in subjects after COVID-19 infection. These results support the possibility that reduced serum 25(OH)D is a consequence and not a cause of COVID-19 infection.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• vitamin D
• 25(OH)D
• case–control study