Vitamin D3: The magical solution in the prevention of Covid-19.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has grasped the whole world in a tight fix. For good public health, strict measures should be adopted that can help minimize the infection and death risk during the pandemic. Therefore, the present review discusses the postulated mechanism of the protective role of vitamin D3 in decreasing the probability of having COVID-19 infections.

METHODOLOGY: The review data was gathered from July 2022 to July 2023 by sourcing relevant scientific literature from various databases using specific keyword combinations related to Vitamin D3 and COVID-19. A total of 515 research papers were reviewed; however, only 42 original articles from 2019 to 2022 specifically examined the relationship between Vitamin D and COVID-19.

RESULTS: The observational studies indicated a significant correlation between vitamin D levels and COVID-19. Conversely, randomized controlled trials suggested that high doses of Vitamin D3 could reduce mortality in COVID-19 patients. Vitamin D3 induces antimicrobial peptides for example cathelicidins (specifically LL-37) and defensins which may have antiviral activity and can reduce the concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines while increasing the concentration of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Vitamin D3 boosts innate and adaptive immunity suppresses the renin-angiotensin pathway and stimulates ACE2 expressions.

CONCLUSION: On the basis of scientific literature, we can say that vitamin D3 is beneficial and required to augment the immune-modulatory effects of infected COVID-19 patients. Population-based studies debated between vitamin D3 levels and COVID-19 cases. But still, clinical trials and large epidemiologic and observational studies should be needed to assess these acclamations.