AUTHOR=Parra-Ortega Israel , Zurita-Cruz Jessie Nallely , Ortiz-Flores Itzel , Romero-Navarro Benjamin , Villasis-Keever Miguel Angel , Martínez Briceida López , Domínguez-Castillo Veronica , Romo-Vázquez José Carlos 

TITLE=Vitamin D levels in the pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic periods in pediatric patients with chronic kidney disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2023.1268347

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2023.1268347

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Introduction</title><p>Vitamin D (VD) deficiency is common in children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) because of multiple factors. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it increased because of medicine shortage and no enough medical service for patients with non-COVID-19 diseases.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Objective</title><p>To analyze the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown on the serum levels and status of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-[OH]D) in children with CKD.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Materials and methods</title><p>This retrospective study included patients (6–18 years old) who were diagnosed with CKD stage 2–5 and routinely measured for serum VD levels between May 2019 and December 2022. Serum 25-(OH)D levels were measured before, during, and after the pandemic (2019, 2020–2021, and 2022, respectively). The daily dose of cholecalciferol supplementation and the readjustment (if required) were recorded.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Results</title><p>This study included 171 patients (median age: 12 years). Before the pandemic, the median serum VD level was 25.0 ng/mL (19.3% VD deficiency). Then, VD supplementation was adjusted to 400–1,200 UI daily in 98.8% (<italic>n</italic> = 169) of patients. During the pandemic, the median VD level decreased to 22.5 ng/mL (43.3% VD deficiency). Hence, the supplementation was readjusted, and after the pandemic, the level was 28.7 ng/mL (18.7% VD deficiency), indicating a statistically significant increase in serum VD levels from the prepandemic period (<italic>p</italic> = 0.007).</p></sec><sec id="sec5"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Decreased serum VD levels and increased VD deficiency frequency were observed in patients with CKD during the COVID-19 but improved after readjustment of supplementation.</p></sec>