Abstract
Background: A higher risk for severe clinical courses of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been linked to deficiencies of several micronutrients. We therefore studied the prevalence of deficiencies of eight different micronutrients in a cohort of hospitalized COVID-19-patients.
Methods: We measured admission serum/plasma levels of vitamins A, B12, D, and E, as well as folic acid, zinc, selenium, and copper in 57 consecutively admitted adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 and analyzed prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies and correlations among micronutrient levels. Further, we studied associations of micronutrient levels with severe disease progression, a composite endpoint consisting of in-hospital mortality and/or need for intensive care unit (ICU) treatment with logistic regression.
Results: Median age was 67.0 years (IQR 60.0, 74.2) and 60% ( n = 34) were male. Overall, 79% ( n = 45) of patients had at least one deficient micronutrient level and 33% ( n = 19) had ≥3 deficiencies. Most prevalent deficiencies were found for selenium, vitamin D, vitamin A, and zinc (51%, 40%, 39%, and 39%, respectively). We found several correlations among micronutrients with correlation coefficients ranging from r = 0.27 to r = 0.42. The strongest associations with lower risk for severe COVID-19 disease progression (adjusted odds ratios) were found for higher levels of vitamin A (0.18, 95% CI 0.05-0.69, p = 0.01), zinc (0.73, 95% CI 0.55-0.98, p = 0.03), and folic acid (0.88, 95% CI 0.78-0.98, p = 0.02).
Conclusions: We found a high prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies in mostly older patients hospitalized for COVID-19, particularly regarding selenium, vitamin D, vitamin A, and zinc. Several deficiencies were associated with a higher risk for more severe COVID-19 courses. Whether supplementation of micronutrients is useful for prevention of severe clinical courses or treatment of COVID-19 warrants further research.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; deficiency; hospital outcomes; micronutrients.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, deficiency, hospital outcomes, micronutrients., 【초록키워드】 Treatment, coronavirus disease, Micronutrient, Hospitalized, intensive care, severe COVID-19, hospital, progression, micronutrients, ICU, Folic acid, Prevalence, Cohort, Clinical course, older patient, male, Research, Patient, vitamin A, Logistic regression, age, Vitamin, correlation, Admission, severe COVID-19 disease, in-hospital mortality, association, composite endpoint, higher risk, 95% CI, deficiencies, serum/plasma, lower risk, correlation coefficient, MOST, courses, severe disease progression, prevalent, analyzed, eight, adjusted, B12, IQR, 【제목키워드】 Micronutrient,