In a new study, researchers found that a single high dose of vitamin D3 does not shorten the length of stay or improve other outcomes among patients hospitalized for COVID-19.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Sao Paulo and elsewhere.
In the study, the team assigned hospitalized patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 to receive a single oral dose of 200,000 IU of vitamin D3 (120 patients) or placebo (120 patients).
The researchers found that the length of stay was not strongly differentiate between the vitamin D3 and placebo groups (seven days for both).
The groups were also similar in the in-hospital mortality (7.6 versus 5.1 percent), admission to the intensive care unit (16.0 versus 21.2 percent), and need for mechanical ventilation (7.6 versus 14.4 percent).
There were increases observed in the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D after the single dose of vitamin D3 versus placebo.
No adverse events were reported, although there was an episode of vomiting linked to the intervention.
The team says the findings do not support the use of a high dose of vitamin D3 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe COVID-19.
One author of the study is Igor H. Murai, Ph.D.
The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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