MICRONUTRIENT STATUS IN CHILDREN INFECTED WITH THE SARS-COV-2 VIRUS

Halyna  Pavlyshyn; Oksana  Labivka

doi:10.21272/eumj.2024;12(4):788-797

Halyna Pavlyshyn I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, Ternopil, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4106-2235
Oksana Labivka I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, Ternopil, Ukraine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0294-9119

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21272/eumj.2024;12(4):788-797

Keywords: COVID-19, children, vitamins, homocysteine

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 has raised significant public health concerns, leading to varying degrees of respiratory illness. Vitamins A, D, B6, B9, and B12 are essential for immune responses to viral infections, including COVID-19, while homocysteine, regulated by B vitamins, may affect inflammatory reactions and vascular complications.

This study aimed to assess the levels of these micronutrients and homocysteine in children with COVID-19, exploring potential links to disease severity.

Materials and Methods: The study, included 112 children with COVID-19 and 23 healthy controls. Serum levels of vitamins A, D, B6, B9, B12, and homocysteine were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results showed that children with mild COVID-19 had higher vitamin A levels (456.10 ng/ml) than those with moderate (347.30 ng/ml) and severe cases (242.90 ng/ml) (p < 0.05). Vitamin D and B6 levels also decreased with increased severity, from 30.91 ng/ml and 56.80 ng/ml in mild cases to 22.42 ng/ml and 39.41 ng/ml in severe cases, respectively (p < 0.05). Vitamin B9 was lower in severe cases (3.90 ng/ml) compared to mild (4.78 ng/ml) (p < 0.05), while B12 showed no significant differences.

Conclusions: vitamins D, B6, and B9 appear to play a significant role in reducing COVID-19 severity in children, while vitamin A has a smaller effect, and B12 shows no notable influence. These findings suggest the importance of maintaining adequate vitamin levels during the COVID-19 pandemic to potentially mitigate disease severity.

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