Vitamin D Status and SARS-CoV-2 Infection in a Cohort of Kidney Transplanted Patients

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 14; no. 2; p. 317
• Main Authors: Regalia, Anna, Benedetti, Matteo, Malvica, Silvia, Alfieri, Carlo, Campise, Mariarosaria, Cresseri, Donata, Gandolfo, Maria Teresa, Tripodi, Federica, Castellano, Giuseppe, Messa, Piergiorgio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 13.01.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; Adult; Aged; Calciferol; Cardiovascular disease; Cohort Studies; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - blood; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Creatinine; Diabetes; Enzymes; Evaluation; Female; Humans; Hypertension; Infections; Italy - epidemiology; Kidney Transplantation; Kidney transplants; Kidneys; Laboratories; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Acuity; Proteins; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 infection; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Transplants & implants; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin deficiency; Vitamins - blood; Italy; SARS-CoV-2 infection; vitamin D; kidney transplantation
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu14020317

Recently the protective role of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) against viral infections has been hypothesized. We evaluated the association between vitamin D status and SARS-CoV-2 infection susceptibility and severity in a cohort of kidney transplanted patients (KTxp). A total of 61 KTxp with SARS-CoV-2 infection (COV+) were matched with 122 healthy KTxp controls (COV-). Main biochemical parameters at 1, 6, and 12 months before SARS-CoV-2 infection were recorded. Vitamin D status was considered as the mean of two 25(OH)D measures obtained 6 ± 2 months apart during the last year. The severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection was based on the need for hospitalization (HOSP+) and death (D+). 25(OH)D levels were lower in COV+ than in controls [19(12-26) vs. 23(17-31) ng/mL, = 0.01]. No differences among the other biochemical parameters were found. The SARS-CoV-2 infection discriminative power of 25(OH)D was evaluated by ROC-curve (AUC 0.61, 95% CI 0.5-0.7, = 0.01). 25(OH)D was not significantly different between HOSP+ and HOSP- [17(8-25) vs. 20(15-26) ng/mL, = 0.19] and between D+ and D- [14(6-23) vs. 20(14-26) ng/mL, = 0.22] and had no significant correlation with disease length. During the year preceding the infection, 25(OH)D levels were lower in COV+ KTxp in comparison with controls matched for demographic features and comorbidities. No significant association between vitamin D status and SARS-CoV-2 infection related outcomes was found.