ArticleThorax2015
Vitamin D deficiency contributes directly to the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Article in Thorax, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04636086 (Vitamin D Supplementation and Covid-19), which is not on this map. Cited by 153 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Vitamin D Supplementation and Covid-19: a Randomised, Double- Blind, Controlled Study
Who cites it
153 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 326 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vitamin D Deficiency Meets Hill's Criteria for Causation in SARS-CoV-2 Susceptibility, Complications, and Mortality: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Assessment of the influence of vitamin D in patients with sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of vitamin D supplementation on clinical outcomes in adult patients with COVID-19: A GRADE-assessed systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Vitamin D and SARS-CoV2 infection, severity and mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Association of Vitamin D Status with SARS-CoV-2 Infection or COVID-19 Severity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Pooled it
- Low vitamin D status is associated with coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- The role of vitamin D deficiency on COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Epidemiology and health · 2021Pooled it
- Vitamin D Status and SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Clinical Outcomes.Frontiers in public health · 2021Pooled it
- Could Vitamins Help in the Fight Against COVID-19?Nutrients · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- Early High-Dose Vitamin DThe New England journal of medicine · 2019Trial
- Vitamin D to Prevent Lung Injury Following Esophagectomy-A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.Critical care medicine · 2018Trial
- Vitamin D Deficiency and Survival in Children after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant.Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation · 2015Trial
- NLRP3 inflammasomes at the ARDS-cancer interface: mechanisms and translational hypotheses.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Global research trends in influenza-associated acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome: a bibliometric analysis from 2010 to 2024.Journal of thoracic disease · 2025Article
- Exploring the Association of Vitamin D and VDR Polymorphisms with Disease Severity in COVID-19 and Influenza.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Article
93 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
22 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleVitamin D deficiency has been implicated as a pathogenic factor in sepsis and intensive therapy unit mortality but has not been assessed as a risk factor for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Causality of these associations has never been demonstrated.
objectivesTo determine if ARDS is associated with vitamin D deficiency in a clinical setting and to determine if vitamin D deficiency in experimental models of ARDS influences its severity.
methodsHuman, murine and in vitro primary alveolar epithelial cell work were included in this study.
findingsVitamin D deficiency (plasma 25(OH)D levels <50 nmol/L) was ubiquitous in patients with ARDS and present in the vast majority of patients at risk of developing ARDS following oesophagectomy. In a murine model of intratracheal lipopolysaccharide challenge, dietary-induced vitamin D deficiency resulted in exaggerated alveolar inflammation, epithelial damage and hypoxia. In vitro, vitamin D has trophic effects on primary human alveolar epithelial cells affecting >600 genes. In a clinical setting, pharmacological repletion of vitamin D prior to oesophagectomy reduced the observed changes of in vivo measurements of alveolar capillary damage seen in deficient patients.
conclusionsVitamin D deficiency is common in people who develop ARDS. This deficiency of vitamin D appears to contribute to the development of the condition, and approaches to correct vitamin D deficiency in patients at risk of ARDS should be developed.
trial registrationUKCRN ID 11994.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.