• Marco Infante, Andrea Buoso, Massimo Pieri, Santina Lupisella, Marzia Nuccetelli, Sergio Bernardini, Andrea Fabbri, Marco Iannetta, Massimo Andreoni, Vittorio Colizzi, and Maria Morello.
• Department of Systems Medicine, Diabetes Research Institute Federation (DRIF), CTO Hospital ASL Roma 2, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
• J Am Coll Nutr. 2021 Feb 18: 1-16.

ObjectivePreliminary findings suggest a relationship between lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and incidence and severity of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between vitamin D status at admission and different markers of inflammation, coagulation, and sepsis in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.MethodWe conducted a retrospective study on 137 consecutive patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and available data on serum 25(OH)D levels, who were admitted to our Institution between March 1 and April 30, 2020. Patients were divided into two groups: survivors (n = 78; 57%) and non-survivors (n = 59; 43%).ResultsAt admission, all patients showed hypovitaminosis D. Median total serum 25(OH)D levels at admission were significantly higher in survivors than non-survivors (12 ng/mL vs 8 ng/mL; p < 0.01). Non-survivors exhibited significantly higher median levels of white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte count ratio (NLR), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), ferritin, interleukin 6 (IL-6), D-dimer, fibrinogen, and procalcitonin (PCT) compared to survivors at three different time points during hospitalization. In a multivariate analysis performed by a logistic regression model, serum 25(OH)D levels were significantly inversely associated with risk of COVID-19-related in-hospital mortality (odds ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85-0.98; p = 0.01). According to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, hsCRP, NLR, ferritin, and D-dimer were the best predictive biomarkers for poor prognosis of COVID-19, whereas IL-6, PCT, fibrinogen, 25(OH)D, WBC count, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) may serve as supportive biomarkers for worse clinical course of the disease.ConclusionsWe found a markedly high prevalence (100%) of hypovitaminosis D in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, suggesting a possible role of low vitamin D status in increasing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent hospitalization. The inverse association between serum 25(OH)D levels and risk of in-hospital mortality observed in our cohort suggests that a lower vitamin D status upon admission may represent a modifiable and independent risk factor for poor prognosis in COVID-19.

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