Clinical correlation of acute phase reactants and vitamin D in patients with coronavirus disease in the north-eastern part of India

COVID-19 is associated with pre-existing co-morbid conditions and vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency as risk factors. Inflammatory biomarkers like acute phase reactants are widely used for monitoring treatment and outcome of the disease. A prospective and observational study was conducted with a purpose to analyse any clinical association of COVID-19 severity with levels of vitamin D, ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, and D-dimer in 100 patients of COVID-19 at a zonal hospital in Tezpur, Assam, India in 2021. All relevant data including age, gender, or co-morbid conditions were retrieved from medical case sheets and laboratory test results. Serum samples of vitamin D and acute phase reactants were collected in COVID wards within 24 hours of admission. Prevalence of 71% of vitamin D deficiency was observed in the current study with mean ±2 SD of vitamin D of 16.6 ± 6.9 ng/mL in Group 1 and 17.1 ± 7.4 ng/mL in Group 2. No significant correlation of COVID-19 with deficiency of vitamin D was observed (p = 0.8107). Serum C-reactive protein levels varied substantially between Group 1 (24.46 ± 34.4 mg/L) and Group 2 (38.5 ± 32.5 mg/L) and were significantly associated with disease severity (p = 0.0397). Levels of ferritin, LDH, and D-dimer were also significantly elevated in Group 2 as compared to Group 1 (p 0.05). It is therefore concluded that low vitamin D levels do not predict severity and outcomes in COVID-19. C-reactive protein, ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase and D-dimer levels are significantly associated and raised in patients with moderate to severe COVID-19