Revisiting the role of vitamin D levels in the prevention of COVID-19 infection and mortality in European countries post infections peak

Abstract

Various studies are underway to identify protective variables for the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that if indeed the Vitamin D levels would be protective in the European population, as recently proposed, the correlation would become more robust when the countries had passed the infection peak as on May 12, 2020, compared to April 8, 2020, when the majority had not. Comparative analysis of data from the mentioned stages indicated a significant increase in negative correlation of vitamin D levels with COVID-19 cases per million population in later stage (r(20): -0.5504; R2=0.3029; p-value: 0.0119 vs r(20): -0.4435; R2=0.1967; p-value: 0.0501) whereas the correlation with deaths per million population became insignificant (r(20): -0.3935; R2=0.1549; p-value: 0.0860 vs r(20): -0.4378; R2=0.1917; p-value: 0.0535). Considering divergence of vitamin D levels from the mean in subgroups, e.g. children, women, aged, dedicated exploratory studies with carefully chosen matched target groups is advisable.

Lower levels of vitamin D are associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality in the Indian population: An observational study

“…Similarly, another independent report involving records from 20 European countries revealed a marginal correlation (r = −0.44, p = 0.05, assed on 8th April 2020) [19] . However, after updating data on 12th May 2020, the relationship was disappeared [21] . Further, a recent report highlighted a higher chance of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients being admitted to an intensive care unit compared to those with insufficient or sufficient levels of vitamin D in the UK population [9] .…”

Covariation of Zinc Deficiency with COVID-19 Infections and Mortality in European Countries: Is Zinc Deficiency a Risk Factor for COVID-19?

“…The European countries with seemingly comparable confounding variables were considered for the analysis as done previously (Ilie, Stefanescu & Smith, 2020;Singh, Kaur & Singh, 2020). The cases and deaths per million population data for COVID-19 from three time-points, i.e., 8 April, 12 May, and 26 May 2020 (Table 1) were collected from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ -the coronavirus pandemic data portal.…”

“…the data, i.e., descriptive, linear regression, calculation of best-fit trend line, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Rsquared value (R 2 ) was performed in the Microsoft excel as done previously (Singh, Kaur & Singh, 2020).…”

“…Given the global prevalence of Zinc deficiency and its role in human health as well as the immunocompetence (Prasad, 2013;NIH, 2020;EFSA, 2006;Maares & Haase, 2020), we hypothesized that the incidence of COVID-19 in populations (cases) and the adverse outcomes (deaths) would be directly correlated to Zinc deficiency. The analysis of European countries with comparable underlying confounding variables when performed at different stages of the pandemic was envisioned to provide a more robust indication of the correlation as indicated previously (Singh, Kaur & Singh, 2020). The primary aim of the current study was to identify any correlation between the prevalence of Zinc deficiency with the adverse outcomes in the European countries.…”

“…Several exploratory studies have been initiated based on assumptions as well as our understanding of coronavirus biology to identify and establish protective interventions (WHO, 2020a;WHO, 2020b;Wikipedia, 2020). Recently, a protective correlation between Vitamin D serum levels and the cases and the deaths per million from COVID-19 had been indicated in the European countries supposedly having comparable confounding variables and similar health care infrastructure (Ilie, Stefanescu & Smith, 2020;Singh, Kaur & Singh, 2020). The association had been reassuring given the established role of Vitamin D in overall health and the protection offered from acute respiratory tract diseases through an effect on the host's renin-angiotensin system comprising ACEs (Cannell, Vieth, Umhau et al, 2006;Xu, Yang, Chen et al, 2017).…”