Published in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the study looked at 76 consecutive patients hospitalised with Covid-19 infection at Reina Sofia University Hospital, Córdoba Spain.
The patients received the same standard care, of a combination of hydroxychloroquine (400mg every 12 hours on the first day, and 200mg every 12 hours for the following five days), azithromycin (500mg orally for five days) and for patients with pneumonia, a broad spectrum antibiotic (ceftriaxone 2g intravenously every 24 hours for five days) was added to hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin.
The final sample size for the study was about 50 patients, half of them treated with Calcifediol (Vitamin D3) and the other 25 patients in the group were not.
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“Of the patients treated with calcifediol, none died, and all were discharged, without complications. The 13 patients not treated with calcifediol, who were not admitted to the ICU, were discharged. Of the 13 patients admitted to the ICU, two died and 11 were discharged,” read the findings of the study in part.
Hydroxychloroquine was chosen because it was in-vitro more potent than chloroquine.
According to the study, Calcifediol seems to reduce severity of the disease, but larger trials with groups properly matched will be required to show a definitive answer.
“Our pilot study demonstrated that administration of a high dose of Calcifediol or 25-hydroxyvitamin D, a main metabolite of vitamin D endocrine system, significantly reduced the need for ICU treatment of patients requiring hospitalisation due to proven Covid-19,” the study read.
In March, the government banned over-the-counter sale of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine without prescription.
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