The Possible Role of Vitamin D in Suppressing Cytokine Storm in Covid-19

> Conclusion Given that CRP is a surrogate marker for cytokine storm and is associated with Vit D deficiency, based on retrospective data and indirect evidence we see a possible role of Vit D in reducing complications attributed to unregulated inflammation and cytokine storm.

Yeah, that's a huge stretch. Not only are low Vitamin D serum levels associated with age as well as poor health in general, they also drop during illness even in people who had healthy levels prior to illness. So even if you're in the "vitamin D is a magic cure for everything" camp, the thesis is predicated on a chain of so many dubious assumptions that the likelihood of it being substantive seem astronomically thin. The proxy that vitamin D serum levels provide is more likely to be a proxy for an answer that's already known--this patient is very sick.

The pandemic has provided so many rich opportunities to publish that I guess it's not surprising to see such a tenuously grounded theory put to print.