Vitamin D may not protect against severe COVID-19, study finds

Genetic evidence does not support vitamin D as a protective measure against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a new study published in the journal PLOS Medicine.

Observational studies have suggested that increased vitamin D levels may protect against COVID-19. However, these studies were inconclusive and possibly subject to confounding, the researchers from McGill University in Quebec, Canada, said.

The ability of vitamin D to protect against severe COVID-19 illness is of great interest to public health experts but has limited supporting evidence. To assess the relationship between vitamin D levels and COVID-19 susceptibility and severity, researchers conducted a Mendelian randomization study using genetic variants strongly associated with increased vitamin D levels. The authors analyzed genetic variants of 4,134 individuals with COVID-19, and 1,284,876 without COVID-19, from 11 countries to determine whether genetic predisposition for higher vitamin D levels were associated with less-severe disease outcomes in people with COVID-19.

The results showed no evidence for an association between genetically predicted vitamin D levels and COVID-19 susceptibility, hospitalization, or severe disease, suggesting that raising circulating vitamin D levels through supplementation may not improve COVID-19 outcomes in the general population.

However, the study had several important limitations, including that the research did not include individuals with vitamin D deficiency, and it remains possible that truly deficient patients may benefit from supplementation for COVID-19 related protection and outcomes. Additionally, the genetic variants were obtained only from individuals of European ancestry, so future studies will be needed to determine the relationship with COVID-19 outcomes in other populations.

The authors concluded that vitamin D supplementation as a public health measure to improve outcomes is not supported by this study. The results suggest that investment in other therapeutic or preventative avenues should be prioritized for COVID-19 randomized clinical trials, they said.

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