Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2024 Jun 17;16(12):1910.
doi: 10.3390/nu16121910.

Calcifediol or Corticosteroids in the Treatment of COVID-19: An Observational Study

Marta Entrenas-Castillo  1   2 , Luis Manuel Entrenas-Costa  1   2   3 , María P Pata  4 , Bernabe Jurado-Gamez  2   3 , Cristina Muñoz-Corroto  3 , Cristina Gomez-Rebollo  3 , Estefania Mira-Padilla  3 , Roger Bouillon  5 , Jose Manuel Quesada-Gómez  2   6   7   8
Affiliations
Observational Study

Calcifediol or Corticosteroids in the Treatment of COVID-19: An Observational Study

Marta Entrenas-Castillo et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Medical treatment of coronavirus 19 disease (COVID-19) is a therapeutic challenge. The available data strongly suggest that calcifediol treatment may reduce the severity of COVID-19, and corticosteroids are the treatment of choice worldwide for severe COVID-19. Both have a very similar action profile, and their combined use in patients may modify the contribution of each administered compound.

Objective: To evaluate how treatment with calcifediol and/or corticosteroids in medical practice modified the need for ICU admission, death, or poor prognosis of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first outbreaks.

Design, patients and setting: A retrospective observational cohort study of patients admitted for COVID-19 to the Pneumology Unit of the Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía (Córdoba, Spain).

Interventions: Patients were treated with calcifediol or/and corticosteroids with the best available therapy and standard care, according to clinical practice guidelines.

Measurements: Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) or death during hospitalization and poor prognosis.

Results: Seven hundred and twenty-eight patients were included. According to the treatment received, they were included in four groups: calcifediol (n = 68), glucocorticoids (n = 112), both (n = 510), or neither (n = 38). Of the 578 patients treated with calcifediol, 88 were admitted to the ICU (15%), while of the 150 not treated with calcifediol, 39 required ICU admission (26%) (p < 0.01). Among the patients taking calcifediol without glucocorticoids, only 4 of 68 (5.8%) required ICU admission, compared to 84 of 510 (16.5%) treated with both (p = 0.022). Of the 595 patients who had a good prognosis, 568 (82.01%) had received treatment with calcifediol versus the 133 patients with a poor prognosis, of whom 90 (67.66%) had received calcifediol (p < 0.001). This difference was not found for corticosteroids.

Interpretation: The treatment of choice for hospitalized patients with moderate or mild COVID-19 could be calcifediol, not administering corticosteroids, until the natural history of the disease reaches a stage of hyperinflammation.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 drug treatment; SARS-CoV-2; calcifediol; corticoids; vitamin D.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest. The funder (FIBICO) had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses or interpretation of the data; in the writing of the manuscript or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
ICU admission. Comparison between groups. The figure shows the different percentages of each treatment group that required admission to the ICU (dark gray) or not (light gray). Patients who received calcifediol alone or in combination with corticosteroids showed a significantly lower percentage of need for ICU admission. χ2Pearson = 14.58. p = 2.21 × 103.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Prognosis. Comparison between groups. The figure shows the different percentages of each treatment group with poor (dark gray) or good (light gray) prognosis. Patients who received calcifediol alone or in combination with corticosteroids showed a significant percentage of better prognosis. χ2Pearson = 18.53. p = 3.43 × 104.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Ranabhat C.L., Jakovljevic M., Kim C.B., Simkhada P. COVID-19 Pandemic: An Opportunity for Universal Health Coverage. Front. Public Health. 2021;9:673542. doi: 10.3389/FPUBH.2021.673542. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Richardson S., Hirsch J.S., Narasimhan M., Crawford J.M., McGinn T., Davidson K.W., Barnaby D.P., Becker L.B., Chelico J.D., Cohen S.L., et al. Presenting Characteristics, Comorbidities, and Outcomes among 5700 Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19 in the New York City Area. JAMA J. Am. Med. Assoc. 2020;323:2052–2059. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.6775. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wiersinga W.J., Rhodes A., Cheng A.C., Peacock S.J., Prescott H.C. Pathophysiology, Transmission, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Review. JAMA. 2020;324:782–793. doi: 10.1001/JAMA.2020.12839. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blanco-Melo D., Nilsson-Payant B.E., Liu W.C., Uhl S., Hoagland D., Møller R., Jordan T.X., Oishi K., Panis M., Sachs D., et al. Imbalanced Host Response to SARS-CoV-2 Drives Development of COVID-19. Cell. 2020;181:1036–1045.e9. doi: 10.1016/J.CELL.2020.04.026. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Merad M., Blish C.A., Sallusto F., Iwasaki A. The immunology and immunopathology of COVID-19. Science. 2022;375:1122–1127. doi: 10.1126/SCIENCE.ABM8108. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types