Vitamin D attenuates COVID-19 complications via modulation of proinflammatory cytokines, antiviral proteins, and autophagy

Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2021 Jun 10. doi: 10.1080/14787210.2021.1941871. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTIntroduction: Global emergence of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has clearly shown variable severity, mortality, and frequency between and within populations worldwide. These striking differences have made many biological variables attractive for future investigations. One of these variables, vitamin D, has been implicated in COVID-19 with rapidly growing scientific evidence. Areas covered: The review intended to systematically explore the sources, and immunomodulatory the role of vitamin D in COVID-19. Search engines and data sources including Google Scholar, PubMed, NCBI, Scopus, and Web of Science were used for data collection. The search terms used were Vitamin D, COVID-19, immune system, antiviral mechanism. Overall, 232 sources of information were collected and 188 were included in this review. Expert opinion: Interaction of vitamin D and vitamin D receptor (VDR), triggers the cellular events to modulate the immune system by regulation of many genes. Vitamin D operates as a double-edged sword against COVID-19. First, in macrophages, it promotes the production of antimicrobial and antiviral proteins like β-defensin 2 and cathelicidin, these proteins inhibit the replication of viral particles and promote the clearance of virus from the cells by autophagy. Second, suppresses cytokine storm and inflammatory processes in COVID-19.PMID:34112047 | DOI:10.1080/1478721...
Source: Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Source Type: research