Now, scientists report that taking high doses of vitamin D administered has not improved the condition of patients with moderate or severe Covid-19.
A clinical trial was conducted in Brazil, where 240 patients received 200,000 IU of vitamin D3 after admission.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), this complementary therapy did not reduce the length of hospital stay or affect the proportion of people requiring intensive care.
Previous in vitro studies or experiments in animals have shown that in some cases, vitamin D and its metabolites can have anti-inflammatory and ant-imicrobial effects, and can modulate immune responses.
“We decided to investigate whether a high dose of the substance could have a protective effect in the context of an acute viral infection, reducing either the inflammation or the viral load,” said Rosa Pereira, principal investigator for the project at the University of Sao Paulo’s Medical School (FM-USP).
The volunteers were randomly divided into two groups, one of which was dissolved in a peanut oil solution with a single dose of 200,000 units (IU) of vitamin D3.
The other group was given peanut oil solution only. All participants received treatment in accordance with the standard hospital treatment plan of the diseases, including the administration of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs.
The main purpose is to observe whether acute supplementation affects the length of stay in these patients, but the researchers also want to know whether this will reduce the risk of admission, intubation and death in the intensive care unit (ICU).
In these clinical results, no significant differences were observed between the two groups.