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José Manuel Cancio TrujilloAuthor

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November 14, 2024
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VitaminD supplementation for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19: a position statement from the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology

Publicated to:Revista Española De Geriatría Y Gerontología: Órgano Oficial De La Sociedad Española De Geriatría Y Gerontología. 56 (3): 177 - 182 - 2021-01-01 56(3), DOI: 10.1016/j.regg.2021.02.001

Authors: Francisco José Tarazona Santabalbina; Leonor Cuadra; José Manuel Cancio Trujillo; Ferrán Roca Carbonell; Joan M Pérez-Castejón Garrote; Álvaro Casas Herrero; Nicolás Ignacio Martínez Velilla; José Antonio Serra Rexach; Francesc Formiga Pérez

Affiliations

Centro Sociosanitario El Carme, Servicio de Geriatría y Cuidados Paliativos de BSA (Badalona Servicios Asistenciales), Badalona, Spain; Badalona Welfare Services: Badalona Serveis Assistencials SA, Badalona, Spain. - Author
Departament of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care, Badalona Serveis Assistencials, Barcelona, Spain. Catalonia Geriatrics and Gerontology Society, Barcelona, Spain. - Author
Doctor en Medicina por la UB Especialista en Geriatria, Jefe del Servicio de Geriatria y Cuidados Paliativos de Badalona Serveis Assistencials BSA, CSS El Carme Badalona, Spain; Badalona Welfare Services: Badalona Serveis Assistencials SA, Badalona, Spain - Author
Geriatric Service, Hospital Universitario de la Ribera, Alzira, Valencia, Spain. CIBERFES, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: fjtarazonas@gmail.com. - Author
Jefe del Servicio de Geriatría Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón Profesor Titular de Medicina, Departarmento de Medicina, Facultad de Medicina Universidad Complutense CIBER-Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable Madrid, Spain; Hospital Genera - Author
Navarrabiomed, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra (CHN), (UPNA), IdiSNA, Pamplona, Spain; CIBER of Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Hospital de Navarra: Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Spain. - Author
Programa de Geriatría, Servicio medicina Interna, Hospital de Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; Systemic Diseases and Ageing Group, Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Systemic Diseases and Cellular Ageing Program, Translational Medicine - Author
Servicio de Geriatría Hospital Universitari de la Santa Creu, Vic, Spain; Hospital Universitari de Vic: Hospital General de Vic, Spain. - Author
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Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) produces severe respiratory symptoms such as bilateral pneumonia associated to a high morbidity and mortality, especially in patients of advanced age. Vitamin D deficiency has been reported in several chronic conditions associated with increased inflammation and dysregulation of the immune system. Vitamin D in modulates immune function too. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is expressed by most immune cells, including B and T lymphocytes, monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells and the signalling of vitamin D and VDR together has an anti-inflammatory effect. Some studies have reported that vitamin D treatment could be useful for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 because vitamin D plays an important role as a modulator of immunocompetence. Over the last few months, some studies have hypothesized the possible beneficial effect of vitamin D supplementation in patients with COVID-19 in order to improve the immune balance and prevent the hyperinflammatory cytokine storm. Some preliminary studies have already shown promising results with vitamin D supplementation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Vitamin D should be administered daily until adequate levels are achieved due to vitamin D behaves as a negative acute phase reactant (APR). Despite the lack of evidence on specific doses of vitamin D to treat COVID-19 in older adults, authors consider it is necessary to standardize the use in clinical practice. These recommendations advice supplement vitamin D in a protocoled fashion based on expert opinions, level of evidence 5.

Keywords

Adultos mayoresAgedArticleB lymphocyteCalcitriol receptorCiencias de la saludComplicationCoronavirus disease 2019Covid-19Cytokine release syndromeCytokine stormDendritic cellDietary supplementDietary supplementsEvidence based medicineFragilidadFrailtyGeriatríaGeriatricsHospitalizationHumanHumansImmunocompetenceImmunologyMacrophageMedical societyMetabolismMonocyteMorbidityMortalityOlder adultsPrevention and controlProtein expressionReceptors, calcitriolSars-cov-2Signal transductionSocieties, medicalSpainStandardizationT lymphocyteVitaminVitamin dVitamin d deficiencyVitamin d receptorVitamin supplementationVitamina dVitamins

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 4.07, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-05, the following number of citations:

  • Scopus: 11
  • Europe PMC: 8

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-05:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 146.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 170 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 183.55.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 245 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.