VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY AND COVID-19 DEATHS AND TEST POSITIVITY RATES IN 46 COUNTRIES: AN ECOLOGICAL STUDY

JAVIER MARIANI; VIRNA MARTÍN GIMENÉZ; IVANA BERGAM; CARLOS DANIEL TAJER; LAURA ANTONIETTI; FELIPE INSERRA; LEÓN FERDER; WALTER MANUCHA

Health Security

New Rochelle, NY : Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

Año: 2021 vol. 19 p. 302 - 308

2326-5094

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the immune defenses of each specific patientplay a leading role, since the morbidity and mortality by COVID-19 infection do notonly depend on the virus, but also depend on the patient?s responses against thisinfection. The immune-inflammatory response is notably involved in thephysiopathogenesis of this viral disease, in which multiple cellular pathways andcomponents are implicated, including vitamin D, among many others. In this regard, itis known that vitamin D is an important modulator of the immune system.Vitamin D or 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) serum levels rise after the dermalexposure to the sunlight and fall during the ?dark months? of the year, fluctuating from30 to 50% in some cases. Vitamin D status depends on vitamin D intake through thediet or supplements, but most of it (between 50% and 90% of vitamin D in the body)depends on its dermal synthesis under the influence of ultraviolet radiation. In additionto sunlight exposure, the production of vitamin D in the skin is modulated by latitude,skin-covering clothes, the use of sunblock, and skin pigmentation.