Does Evidence Exist to Blunt Inflammatory Response by Nutraceutical Supplementation during COVID-19 Pandemic? An Overview of Systematic Reviews of Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Melatonin, and Zinc
Nutrients 2021, 13(4), 1261; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13041261
by Salvatore Corrao 1,2, salvatore.corrao at unipa.it OrcID,Raffaella Mallaci Bocchio 2,Marika Lo Monaco 2,Giuseppe Natoli 2OrcID,Attilio Cavezzi 3OrcID,Emidio Troiani 4 andChristiano Argano 2
- 1 Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Maternal and Infant Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, PROMISE, University of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy
- 2 COVID Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, National Relevance and High Specialization Hospital Trust ARNAS Civico, Di Cristina, Benfratelli, 90127 Palermo, Italy
- 3 Eurocenter Venalinfa, 63074 San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy
- 4 Cardiology Unit, State Hospital, Social Security Institute, 20, 47893 Cailungo, Republic of San Marino
More than one year has passed since the first cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 coronavirus were reported in Wuhan (China), rapidly evolving into a global pandemic. This infectious disease has become a major public health challenge in the world. Unfortunately, to date, no specific antivirals have been proven to be effective against COVID-19, and although a few vaccines are available, the mortality rate is not decreasing but is still increasing. One therapeutic strategy has been focused on infection prevention and control measures. In this regard, the use of nutraceutical supports may play a role against some aspect of the infection, particularly the inflammatory state and the immune system function of patients, thus representing a strategy to control the worst outcomes of this pandemic. For this reason, we performed an overview including meta-analyses and systematic reviews to assess the association among melatonin, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc supplementation and inflammatory markers using three databases, namely, MEDLINE, PubMed Central and the Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews. According to the evidence available, an intake of 50,000 IU/month of vitamin D showed efficacy in CRP. An amount of 1 to 2 g per day of vitamin C demonstrated efficacy both in CRP and endothelial function, and a dosage of melatonin ranging from 5 to 25 mg /day showed good evidence of efficacy in CRP, TNF and IL6. A dose of 50 mg/day of elemental zinc supplementation showed positive results in CRP. Based on the data reported in this review, the public health system could consider whether it is possible to supplement the current limited preventive measures through targeted nutraceutical large-scale administration.
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Vitamin D meta-analyses for COVID-19
- Vaccinations did not stop COVID (68 studies) – meta-analysis May 2023
- Influenza risk cut in half by the only trial giving enough vitamin D for body weight – meta-analysis Jan 2022
- Multiple Vitamin D doses reduced COVID ICU by 2.5 X , Mech. Ventilation by 5.5 X – meta-analysis May 2024
- COVID death rate in hospital halved if take any amount of vitamin D for any length of time – meta-analysis May 2024
- COVID and Vitamin D: 2X more likely to die if low, 2X more likely to survive if supplement – umbrella meta-analysis April 2024
- COVID fought by Vitamin D: 2.3X less likely to die of COVID if supplemented, 1.9 X less likely to become infected – meta-analysis March 2024
- COVID Vaccinations increased risk of cardiac deaths in youths by 19% - Aug 2023
- T1 Diabetes increased by 27% by second year of COVID – meta-analysis June 2023
- Yet another reason to take Vitamin D while pregnant – fight COVID - meta-analysis May 2023
- COVID death 1.5 X less likely if high vitamin D, emergency D (50K to 100K) is great – meta-analysis March 2023
- COVID ICU 3X less-likely if take any amount and type of Vitamin D – meta-analysis Jan 2023
- COVID and Vitamin D: any amount of D, at any time, for any duration reduced ICU - meta-analysis Dec 2022
- Worse COVID during 3Q pregnancy if 2.5 ng lower Vitamin D – meta-analysis Sept 2022
- Severe COVID 2.6 X less likely if supplement with Vitamin D – 26th meta-analysis - July 2022
- COVID Long-Haul prevalence increases with time: 50% at 4 months - meta June 2022
- COVID test positive is about half as likely if have Vitamin D – 24th meta-analysis - Jan 2022
- Small amounts of Vitamin D reduce Influenza risk by 22 percent (loading dose is far better) – meta-analysis Jan 2022
- Vitamin D fights COVID (54 studies of 1,400,000 people) – 23rd meta-analysis - Dec 2021
- COVID-19 treated by Vitamin D (reduce ICU by 3X) - 22nd meta-analysis - Dec 29, 2021
- COVID-19 death increased 2X if low Vitamin D (less than 10 to less than 30 ng) – 21st meta-analysis Dec 2021
- COVID-19 risk reduced by vitamin D supplementation – umbrella review of 7 meta-analysis – Oct 2021
- COVID-19 treated by Vitamin D (example: ICU reduced by 5X) – 20th meta-analysis Oct 13, 2021
- Severe COVID-19 2.5 X more likely if low vitamin D (23 studies) – 19th meta-analysis Oct 2021
- COVID-19 mortality extrapolates to zero at 50 ng of vitamin D – 18th Meta-analysis Sept 2021
- COVID-19 death 1.6 X more likely if low vitamin D (24 studies) – 17th meta-analysis Aug 2021
- Severe COVID-19 5X more likely if low vitamin D (23 studies) – 16th meta-analysis July 2021
- Severe COVID-19 3.5 more likely if low vitamin D (30 studies) – meta-analysis July 2021
- COVID-19 patients who had supplemented with Vitamin D were 3X less likely to enter ICU – June 2021
- Low Calcium associated with severe COVID-19 – several studies
- COVID-19 mortality 3X more likely if low vitamin D (999,179 people) – meta-analysis March 29, 2021
- COVID-19 was 2.6X more severe if very low Vitamin D (43 studies) – meta-analysis March 26, 2021
- Low Vitamin D associated with 2.7X more severe COVID-19 – 12th MA March 5, 2021
- Vitamin D supplementation fights COVID-19 – 11th meta-analysis Jan 24, 2021
- 3.7 X less likely to die of COVID-19 if supplemented with Vitamin D - meta-analysis Jan 5, 2021
- Less likely to test positive for COVID-19 if higher Vitamin D – meta-analysis Jan 6, 2021
- Vitamin D reduces COVID-19 by 80 percent - anonymous meta-analysis - Jan 5, 2021
- COVID-19 1.7X more likely to be severe if low Vitamin D - meta-analysis Oct 2020
- Low Vitamin D associated 1.8X increased risk of COVID-19 death in hospital – meta-analysis Nov 4, 2020
- Acute viral respiratory infections (RTI) reduced by Vitamin D - 20 reviews - Aug 2020
- Prudent to consider that Vitamin D has a role in COVID-19 – meta-analysis – Aug 7, 2020
- Risk of enveloped virus infection is increased 50 percent if poor Vitamin D Receptor - meta-analysis Dec 2018
- Hepatitis B patients have 2 ng lower level of Vitamin D – meta-analysis June 2019
- Influenza Vaccination not benefited by lowish levels of vitamin D – meta-analysis March 2018
COVID-19 treated by Vitamin D - studies, reports, videos
As of March 31, 2024, the VitaminDWiki COVID page had: trial results, meta-analyses and reviews, Mortality studies see related: Governments, HealthProblems, Hospitals, Dark Skins, All 26 COVID risk factors are associated with low Vit D, Fight COVID-19 with 50K Vit D weekly Vaccines Take lots of Vitamin D at first signs of COVID 166 COVID Clinical Trials using Vitamin D (Aug 2023) Prevent a COVID death: 9 dollars of Vitamin D or 900,000 dollars of vaccine - Aug 2023
5 most-recently changed Virus entries
Items in both categories Virus and Zinc:
- COVID was associated with low Vitamin D or Zinc – umbrella review Feb 2023
- 23 COVID mitigation strategies: at least 6 of which increase Vitamin D in cells - Sept 2022
- COVID and Zinc - many studies
- Surviving COVID with vitamins and minerals is not a myth – June 2022
- Vitamin D, Zinc, Magnesium etc. are needed to fight COVID – April 2022
- How vitamins D, C, Zinc, and Selenium might fight COVID - Dec 2021
- Nutritional supplementation during COVID hospitalization helped - RCT - Jan 2022
- COVID-19 decreased risk if add Vitamin D, A, C, NAC, Se, Zn, or Omega-3 – Dec 2021
- COVID-19 patients had low levels of Zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, and Vitamin C – Sept 2021
- COVID-19 risk reduced 4X by each of: Vitamin D, Omega-3, Curcumin, Zinc (each increases D in cells)
- Vitamin D, C, A, and E, as well as Iron, Se, and Zinc each augment vaccine response – July 2021
- How Vitamin D, Magnesium, Omega-3 and Zinc prevent and treat COVID-19 etc. – June 2021
- COVID-19 treatment outside of hospital – Vitamin D, zinc, etc. – May 2021
- Important Role of Micronutrients during COVID-19 (Zinc, Vitamin D, C, Folate) – May 5, 2021
- Many supplements appear to fight COVID-19 – vitamin D cited 52 times – May 2021
- Zinc therapy for COVID-19 – Feb 2021
- COVID-19 alternative treatments - real-time database
- Overview of reviews of COVID-19 and vitamin D, etc. – April 2021
- COVID-19 what it is, prevention by Functional Nutrition doctor - Feb 2021
- Vitamin D, Zinc, etc. look promising for COVID-19 (Holick) - Jan 25, 2021
- Less than 10 dollars of Vitamin D per COVID-19 life saved in Myanmar - Jan 2021
- Micronutrients for COVID-19: Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Melatonin, Zinc, Se, etc. - Dec 2020
- Zinc (which increases vitamin D in tissues) may both prevent and treat COVID-19
- COVID-19 possible therapies: Vitamin D, Selenium, Zinc, Vitamin C, Potassium, Resveratrol , etc.– Aug 5, 2020
- 7 reasons to think that Zinc should fight COVID-19 – July 2020
- Observations that Vitamin D, Zinc, and Selenium separately reduce COVID-19 – Aug 7, 2020
- Mild COVID-19 quickly treated by Zinc lozenges in 4 people – June 6, 2020
- Zinc, respiratory tract infections and COVID-19 – July 2020
- Fight COVID-19 with Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Zinc, Selenium, Resveratrol, etc. - Sardi May 12, 2020
- Common cold prevented and treated by Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Zinc, and Echinacea – review April 2018
- Loss of smell may be related to low Zinc or perhaps low vitamin D
- Dengue fever immune response and micronutrients (vitamins D, E, A, and Zinc, Iron, Chromium) – Nov 2015
- Overview Colds and flu and Vitamin D
Items in both categories Virus and Vitamin C:
- COVID appears to be treated by many antioxidants (Vitamins D, C, E, K, and Quercetin, Curcumin, etc) – Jan 2023
- COVID fought by the antioxidants: Vitamin D, Zinc, Vitamin C, and Selenium – Review Sept 2022
- COVID worse if lower Vitamin C, but not Vitamin D in this study – Aug 2022
- Surviving COVID with vitamins and minerals is not a myth – June 2022
- COVID treatment patent applied for - using Rutin, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Magnesium, etc. – April 2022
- How vitamins A, B, C, D, E, F (Omega), K fight COVID - Feb 2022
- How vitamins D, C, Zinc, and Selenium might fight COVID - Dec 2021
- Vitamin C helps COVID-19 (IV and oral) – review of 12 studies Oct 2021
- COVID-19 decreased risk if add Vitamin D, A, C, NAC, Se, Zn, or Omega-3 – Dec 2021
- COVID-19 patients had low levels of Zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, and Vitamin C – Sept 2021
- Vitamin D, C, A, and E, as well as Iron, Se, and Zinc each augment vaccine response – July 2021
- COVID-19 treatment outside of hospital – Vitamin D, zinc, etc. – May 2021
- Important Role of Micronutrients during COVID-19 (Zinc, Vitamin D, C, Folate) – May 5, 2021
- Many supplements appear to fight COVID-19 – vitamin D cited 52 times – May 2021
- Overview of reviews of COVID-19 and vitamin D, etc. – April 2021
- Less than 10 dollars of Vitamin D per COVID-19 life saved in Myanmar - Jan 2021
- Micronutrients for COVID-19: Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Melatonin, Zinc, Se, etc. - Dec 2020
- Vitamin C may treat COVID-19 (several studies)
- For COVID-19: Vitamin C use might cause kidney stones, but Vitamin D will not– Aug 8, 2020
- COVID-19 possible therapies: Vitamin D, Selenium, Zinc, Vitamin C, Potassium, Resveratrol , etc.– Aug 5, 2020
- Vitamin C IV, which treats Sepsis, also treats COVID-19 - May 2020
- Does vitamin D (and C) help with Covid-19 - May 2020
- Fight COVID-19 with Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Zinc, Selenium, Resveratrol, etc. - Sardi May 12, 2020
- COVID-19 prompts awareness of deficiencies of Vitamin D, C and Magnesium - April 6 2020
- Common cold prevented and treated by Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Zinc, and Echinacea – review April 2018