Meta-Analysis Study Shows That Antioxidant Supplements Like Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Selenium And Zinc Does Help In COVID-19 Clinical Outcomes.

COVID-19 Supplements: A new meta-analysis study by researchers from the Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences-Iran involving various relevant published studies from around the world has shown that antioxidant supplements like Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Selenium and Zinc does help with COVID-19 clinical outcomes and prevents disease severity.


 
The COVID-19 disease is a newly emerging viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Oxidative stress appears to be a prominent contributor to the pathogenicity of SARS-CoV-2.
 
Hence the study team carried out a systematic review of human observational and interventional studies to investigate the role of some antioxidants such as vitamins A, E, D, and C, selenium, zinc, and α-lipoic acid in the main clinical outcomes of subjects with COVID-19.
 
Peer reviewed published studies on Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, and Medline were searched using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and non-MeSH terms without restrictions.
 
A total of 36 studies for vitamins C and D, selenium, and zinc were identified and included in this systematic review; however, no eligible studies were found for vitamins A and E as well as α-lipoic acid.
 
The study findings showed the promising role of vitamin C in inflammation, Horowitz index, and mortality; vitamin D in disease manifestations and severity, inflammatory markers, lung involvement, ventilation requirement, hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and mortality; selenium in cure rate and mortality; and zinc in ventilation requirement, hospitalization, ICU admission, biomarkers of inflammation and bacterial infection, and disease complications.
 
The study team in conclusion commented, “It seems that antioxidants, especially vitamins C and D, selenium, and zinc, can improve multiple COVID-19 clinical outcomes. Nevertheless, more studies are necessary to affirm these results.”
 
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Food Science & Nutrition.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fsn3.3034
 
This is the first meta-analysis study to investigated the role of antioxidants such as selenium, zinc, α-lipoic acid, and vitamins A, E, D, and C in improving the clinical outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
 
Already published research on COVID-19 has indicated that oxidative stress could be one of the main reasons behind the pathogenicity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
 
Health conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus increase the risk of severe COVID-19 because these conditions elevate oxidative stress levels in the body.
 
Furthermore, the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor is believed to disrupt the renin-angiotensin system and contribute to further oxidative stress.
 
It is also already known that oxidative stress weakens the immune system and cause inflammation and cell death.
 
He nce, considering the extensive involvement of oxidative stress in COVID-19 clinical outcomes, antioxidants, which repair oxidative damage to cellular components, could provide potential therapeutic avenues to manage the severity of the disease.
 
The stud team focused on six non-enzymatic antioxidants, which included two minerals (selenium and zinc), four vitamins (A, D, E, and C), and one quasi-vitamin (α-lipoic acid). They selected observational and interventional studies that included COVID-19 patients and excluded studies on animal models and ex vivo or in vitro experiments.
 
Published observational studies were chosen based on an extensive inclusion criterion, which included factors like robust study design, outcomes of interest such as hospitalization and inflammatory biomarkers, exposure of interest consisting of different levels of the antioxidants in supplements or food, and results being reported in terms of odds ratio, hazard ratio, β coefficient, and relative risk.
 
In the case of interventional studies, published papers were selected for including randomized controlled, pre- or post-, and quasi-experimental trials; and for investigating the effect of antioxidant infusions or supplements on the clinical outcomes of COVID-19.
 
For the meta-analysis study, published research with descriptive observational data, imprecise estimates, and studies that administered the antioxidants of interest with other nutrients, as well as non-peer-reviewed publications, commentaries, editorials, and case reports, were excluded.
 
The study findings of the review suggest that vitamins C and D and minerals zinc and selenium could be highly beneficial in improving many of the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 and lowering the severity of the disease.
 
According to the study findings, vitamin C supplementation was seen to reduce inflammatory biomarker levels and mortality and increase the Horowitz index, which is used to assess the lung function of patients on ventilators.
 
Importantly, observational studies reported that insufficient vitamin D was linked to severe COVID-9 manifestations such as hypoxia, fever, and lymphocytopenia. Supplementation with vitamin D reduced ventilation and intensive care unit (ICU) admission requirements. Studies also found vitamin D levels to be inversely associated with the levels of inflammatory biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, D-dimer, and neutrophil and lymphocyte concentrations.
 
Thailand Medical News would like to bring up that a recent British study claimed Vitamin D in no way helped in COVID-19 outcomes.
https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-071230
 
Readers should not be influenced by that study as all the garbage researchers and institutions involved in that study have been involved in advocating that the COVID-19 jabs are the only way to prevent COVID-19 disease severity or mortality and hence must have been discreetly funded by the big pharma companies behind the COVID-19 jabs!
 
The COVID-19 Supplements review also discussed the beneficial effects of mineral antioxidants.
 
Numerous observational studies indicated that selenium could play a role in decreasing mortality rates in COVID-19 cases.
 
Also, serum zinc levels were inversely related to the severity of COVID-19 symptoms.
 
Published research showed that oral zinc sulfate supplements significantly reduced the need for ventilation, hospitalization, and ICU admission. Also, inflammatory and infection biomarkers such as CRP, interleukins, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and procalcitonin were inversely proportional to serum zinc levels.
 
However, in the case of the antioxidants α-lipoic acid, vitamins A and E, no observational or interventional studies were available.
 
The study team however discussed the importance of vitamin A in enhancing the immune system by promoting the production of immunoglobulins, maintaining the epithelia and mucin layers of the respiratory tracts, and regulating the genes involved in inflammatory responses.
 
In the same light, vitamin E is believed to play a role in protecting cells from reactive oxidative species, T cell function, and the production of antibodies while the involvement of α-lipoic acid in reducing oxidative stress and inhibiting the activation of inflammatory transcription factors was also mentioned in the review.
 
The study findings indicate that antioxidants such as vitamins C and D and minerals such as selenium and zinc are potential avenues for ameliorating many of the severe manifestations of COVID-19.
 
However, more studies are still warranted to form conclusions. Despite the absence of observational or interventional studies on the roles of vitamins A and E and α-lipoic acid, the biological roles these antioxidants play in the body indicate their potential as therapeutic agents against COVID-19.
 
For more on COVID-19 Supplements, keep on logging to Thailand Medical News.