Vitamins and immune system: Is there any role in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19?

Abstract

WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic caused by coronavirus associated with mild to severe respiratory symptoms. Individuals with compromised immune system are more prone to developing COVID-19.  This review paper is aimed at examining the effect of vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and B-complex (vitamins B1, B6, B9, B12) on the immune system and share some evidence on whether their supplementation can be helpful in the prevention, treatment, and management of COVID-19 patients. Only a few studies have been done to investigate the effect of supplementation of these vitamins in reducing the risk of respiratory tract infections. In this review, an attempt has been made to summarize the possible benefits of the above-mentioned vitamins to enhance the human immune response and suggest that their suitable supplementation in COVID-19 patients could be useful in the management of this infection.   Rigorous clinical trials need to be conducted to confirm the putative benefits of vitamin supplementation to contain the spread of this disease.