The effect of vitamin D deficiency on the cellular immunity of patients in the early stage of COVID-19 disease

Abstract

COVID-19 is a disease with a wide range of symptoms and severity due to the ability of SARS-COV-2 to infect many kinds of tissues and organs in the patient's body. The disease begins commonly with symptoms of respiratory tract infection that may be mild and limited or progress to severe infection with fatal consequences. Vitamins play essential roles in our biology, including supporting immunity. Vitamin D deficiency became a public problem, and its effect as an immunomodulator in many viral infections was approved. This study investigated the effect of vitamin D deficiency on cellular immunity, especially lymphocytes, in COVID-19 patients when the disease is in its early stages. Tests were done for the complete blood count lymphocyte proliferation assay in response to non-specific mitogen and immunoglobulin levels. The study revealed no significant effect of vitamin D deficiency on the T-lymphocyte activation at the early stage of the infection. Vitamin D deficient patients have lower immunoglobulin levels, necessitating vaccination against COVID-19 infection. Keywords: COVID-19, lymphocyte proliferation, mitotic index, vitamin D