What Stone-formers Should Know About Vitamin C and D Supplementation in the COVID-19 Era
European Urology Open Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euros.2020.07.006
Brief Correspondence
lJohnathan A. Khusid William M. Atallah Natasha Kyprianou Mantu Gupta
- Overview Kidney Stones and vitamin D
- No consensus: Increased Vitamin D ==> increased Kidney Stones
Magnesium and Vitamin K2 will probably decrease Kidney Stones
Increased Vitamin D + Decreased Calcium will probably decrease Kidney stones
- No consensus: Increased Vitamin D ==> increased Kidney Stones
Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly evolved into a pandemic but remains without a well-defined treatment or prevention strategy. Research efforts have focused on the use of existing medications, such as azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, and famotidine. The use of vitamin supplements, particularly vitamins C and D has also garnered great interest. Prior research on respiratory infections suggests that vitamin C and D supplementation may be beneficial [1], [2], [3], [4]. However, crucially needed data from double-blind controlled studies are lacking.
Vitamin C is metabolized to oxalate and vitamin D regulates calcium homeostasis. Thus, these supplements are potentially lithogenic. Nephrolithiasis is a common urologic pathology and it is critical for practitioners to counsel stone-forming patients on the safety of vitamin C and D supplementation in the COVID-19 era, particularly given that universal facemask precautions may limit routine oral hydration. Here we highlight relevant literature regarding vitamins C and D and their relationship to respiratory infections and nephrolithiasis to guide practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic (Table 1).