ReviewReviews in medical virology2021
Mega doses of retinol: A possible immunomodulation in Covid-19 illness in resource-limited settings.
Review in Reviews in medical virology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vitamins impacting mental/physical well-being during viral pandemics: a mechanistic review based on COVID-19: a comprehensive review.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- Immune-Boosting and Antiviral Effects of Antioxidants in COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Therapeutic Perspective.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Vitamin A Positively Correlates with Secretory Immunoglobulin A: A Cross-Sectional Study in Omicron COVID-19 Outpatients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Exploration of the common pathogenic link between COVID-19 and diabetic foot ulcers: An in silico approach.Health science reports · 2023Article
- Vitamin A Deficiency, COVID-19, and Rhino-Orbital Mucormycosis (Black Fungus): An Analytical Perspective.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
- Early Outpatient Treatment of COVID-19: A Retrospective Analysis of 392 Cases in Italy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Article
- Antioxidant Effects of Dietary Supplements on Adult COVID-19 Patients: Why Do We Not Also Use Them in Children?Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Dexamethasone, but Not Vitamin D or A, Dampens the Inflammatory Neutrophil Response to Protect At-risk COVID-19 Patients.Immune network · 2022Article
- Suboptimal Consumption of Relevant Immune System Micronutrients Is Associated with a Worse Impact of COVID-19 in Spanish Populations.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Review
- Mucormycosis and COVID-19-Associated Mucormycosis: Insights of a Deadly but Neglected Mycosis.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Low-Molecular-Weight Synthetic Antioxidants: Classification, Pharmacological Profile, Effectiveness and Trends.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- AllCurrent research in immunology · 2022Review
- A novel hypothesis for COVID-19 pathogenesis: Retinol depletion and retinoid signaling disorder.Cellular signalling · 2021Article
- Mega doses of retinol: A possible immunomodulation in Covid-19 illness in resource-limited settings.Reviews in medical virology · 2021Review
- Immunomodulatory Role of Nutrients: How Can Pulmonary Dysfunctions Improve?Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Review
- Fat-Soluble Vitamins and the Current Global Pandemic of COVID-19: Evidence-Based Efficacy from Literature Review.Journal of inflammation research · 2021Review
- Diet and Hygiene in Modulating Autoimmunity During the Pandemic Era.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Of all the nutrients, vitamin A has been the most extensively evaluated for its impact on immunity. There are three main forms of vitamin A, retinol, retinal and retinoic acid (RA) with the latter being most biologically active and all-trans-RA (ATRA) its main derivative. Vitamin A is a key regulator of the functions of various innate and adaptive immune cells and promotes immune-homeostasis. Importantly, it augments the interferon-based innate immune response to RNA viruses decreasing RNA virus replication. Several clinical trials report decreased mortality in measles and Ebola with vitamin A supplementation.During the Covid-19 pandemic interventions such as convalescent plasma, antivirals, monoclonal antibodies and immunomodulator drugs have been tried but most of them are difficult to implement in resource-limited settings. The current review explores the possibility of mega dose vitamin A as an affordable adjunct therapy for Covid-19 illness with minimal reversible side effects. Insight is provided into the effect of vitamin A on ACE-2 expression in the respiratory tract and its association with the prognosis of Covid-19 patients. Vitamin A supplementation may aid the generation of protective immune response to Covid-19 vaccines. An overview of the dosage and safety profile of vitamin A is presented along with recommended doses for prophylactic/therapeutic use in randomised controlled trials in Covid-19 patients.
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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.