Publication
Vitamin C Deficiency in Blood Samples of COVID-19 Patients.
Journal Paper/Review - Aug 15, 2022
Sinnberg Tobias, Lichtensteiger Christa, Hill-Mündel Katharina, Leischner Christian, Niessner Heike, Busch Christian, Renner Olga, Wyss Nina, Flatz Lukas, Lauer Ulrich M, Hoelzle Ludwig E, Nohr Donatus, Burkard Markus, Marongiu Luigi, Venturelli Sascha
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Brief description/objective
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most notable pandemic of the modern era. A relationship between ascorbate (vitamin C) and COVID-19 severity is well known, whereas the role of other vitamins is less understood. The present study compared the blood levels of four vitamins in a cohort of COVID-19 patients with different severities and uninfected individuals. Serum concentrations of ascorbate, calcidiol, retinol, and α-tocopherol were measured in a cohort of 74 COVID-19 patients and 8 uninfected volunteers. The blood levels were statistically compared and additional co-morbidity factors were considered. COVID-19 patients had significantly lower plasma ascorbate levels than the controls (-value < 0.001), and further stratification revealed that the controls had higher levels than fatal, critical, and severe COVID-19 cases (-values < 0.001). However, no such trend was observed for calcidiol, retinol, or α-tocopherol (-value ≥ 0.093). Survival analysis showed that plasma ascorbate below 11.4 µM was associated with a lengthy hospitalization and a high risk of death. The results indicated that COVID-19 cases had depleted blood ascorbate associated with poor medical conditions, confirming the role of this vitamin in the outcome of COVID-19 infection.