COVID-19 Digest: The Possible Link Between Severe COVID-19 and Low Vitamin D Levels (Recorded 5/21/20)

<p><strong>Host</strong>: Elizabeth Esty, MD.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At this point, with so many of the studies we’ve digested exploring correlations, associations, observational studies and anecdotal reports and speculation, we could subtitle the show: what we don’t know about COVID. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">And so, today, we’ll look at what we don’t know about Vitamin D and COVID. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">There have been a number of studies and a fair amount of media coverage in recent weeks that look at a possible link between low Vitamin D levels and severity of COVID. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vitamin D plays a role in both adaptive and innate immunity, which we discussed at some length in our episode on the BCG vaccine and COVID. Macrophages starved for Vitamin D can’t produce peroxide to kill microbes, and some of the toll-like receptors crucial to innate immunity that recognize pathogen molecules don't work right without Vitamin D. Finally, Vitamin D modulates the immune response, preventing release of too many cytokines.</span></p> <p>The potential for Vitamin D to play a role in preventing severe COVID-19 seems plausible, but what does the science say?</p> <p><strong>Research By</strong>: Elizabeth Esty and Nathan Novotny.</p> <p><strong>Sound Editing By</strong>: Nathan Novotny.</p> <p><strong>References</strong>:</p> <p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56061/">[1]</a> Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Review Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin D and Calcium; Ross AC, Taylor CL, Yaktine AL, et al., editors. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011. 3, Overview of Vitamin D. Available from: <a href= "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56061/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56061/</a></p> <p><a href= "https://ashpublications.org/blood/article/106/13/4351/133290/1-25-dihydroxyvitamin-D3-is-a-potent-suppressor-of"> [2]</a> Helming L, Böse J, Ehrch