Study of calcium homeostasis in a cohort of Egyptian patients with coronavirus disease 2019 during and postinfection

Purpose To evaluate calcium homeostasis in Egyptian coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients during and postinfection period. Patients and methods A total of 50 Egyptian patients who had positive RT-PCR results for severe acute coronavirus 2 nucleic acid testing both during and after infection were included. All selected cases were subjected to laboratory investigations during and postinfection including serum calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and serum 25-OH vitamin D. Results The mean serum calcium levels of patients were significantly lower during acute infection than in the postinfection period (8.09 ± 1.02 vs. 8.72 ± 0.67 mg/dl, P < 0.001*). Serum magnesium levels also showed a significant reduction (1.75 ± 0.19 vs. 1.86 ± 0.14 mg/dl, P = 0.002*) as well as PTH levels (29.38 ± 17.41 vs. 35.50 ± 16.90 pg/ml, P = 0.008*) when comparing their levels during and postacute infection. There was no statistically significant difference between serum phosphorus during acute infection and postinfection (P = 0.061). On the other hand, the mean of 25-OH vitamin D levels were considerably lower in postinfected patients (18.30 ± 7.90 ng/ml) compared with acutely infected participants (22.46 ± 9.31 ng/ml), P less than 0.001*. Conclusion This study highlights the relation between acute COVID-19 infection and alterations in calcium homeostasis biochemical indicators, including PTH and vitamin D, implying that they are intrinsic to the disease. These findings emphasize the importance of monitoring the studied biochemical parameters during acute infection and in the postinfection period of COVID-19 to assess metabolic changes, disease progression, and guide in patient management for the optimization of a personalized treatment plan.