Supplemental Micronutrients Administration in Pregnant Women with
COVID-19: Indicated or Not?
Abstract
More than one year has been passed since the first report of COVID-19
from Wuhan city of China. Soon this virus was spread around the world
and became a pandemic and till now, over 122 million people have been
infected and over 2.69 million of them have been dead due to COVID-19
infection. Many efforts have been done regarding different aspects of
COVID-19 pharmacotherapy and its challenges. Coronavirus can negatively
affect the immune system. This complication can be exaggerated in
pregnant women with micronutrient and elemental deficiencies. Also,
coronavirus itself can induce micronutrients malabsorption and result in
their severe deficiencies that can lead to increased risk of infection
in these group of patients. The most important micronutrients that can
support the immune system are zinc, selenium, iron, vitamin A, C, D, and
E. So, it has been suggested that administration of supplemental
micronutrients would be helpful to prevent the severe complications of
COVID-19 infection in pregnant women [4]. Vitamin A deficiency
during pregnancy can result in congenital defects, anorectal
malformation, schizophrenia, gestational diabetes, and diabetes
mellitus. Also, excessive administration of supplemental vitamin A
should be avoided during pregnancy. Vitamin C deficiency during
pregnancy could be accompanied by several pregnancy complications
including gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and
preeclampsia. So, administration of supplemental vitamin C would be
promising in pregnant women who are infected with new coronavirus to
prevent these complications during pregnancy and boosting of the
immunity system. VitaminD can play an important role in protection
against viral respiratory tract infection.