No Effect on Serum Lipids by Moderate and High Doses of Vitamin C in Elderly Subjects with Low Plasma Ascorbic Acid Levels

Abstract

The influence of dietary supplementation with moderate (200 mg/day) and high (2,000 mg/day) doses of vitamin C on serum lipid levels was studied in 27 female long-stay hospital patients characterized by low plasma ascorbic acid levels during the preceding year. The two doses of vitamin C were compared with placebo in a double-blind, cross-over design during randomly determined 6-week periods followed by 2-week washout intervals. No effect was observed on serum cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. Plasma ascorbic acid levels were highly significantly increased (p < 0.001) by both doses of vitamin C. It is concluded that dietary supplementation with moderate or high doses of vitamin C does not affect serum lipids of persons who have low plasma ascorbic acid levels suggestive of possible marginal deficiency of vitamin C.

The effect of ascorbic acid on plasma lipids and oxidisability of LDL in male smokers

“…Supplementation trials have been carried out to test the epidemiological association between AA and plasma lipids. The results of some trials re¯ected the epidemiological observations (Samuel & Shalchi, 1964;Spittle, 1971;Gatto et al, 1996;Fidanza et al, 1982;Ginter, 1979) while others showed no effect despite a wide range in the amounts (0.2± 6 g/d) of the supplements which were consumed (Samuel & Shalchi, 1964;Spittle, 1971;Buzzard et al, 1982;Aro et al, 1988;Burr et al, 1985;Crawford et al, 1975;Wahlberg & Walldius, 1982;Khan & Seedarnee, 1981;Johnson & Obenshain, 1981;Menne et al, 1975;Peterson et al, 1995). However, the quality of the trials has been variable (Hemila, 1992) and some trials have suffered from the lack of a control group, poor dietary control, no evidence of compliance, a heterogeneous population with respect to pathological conditions and AA status, and the use of elderly subjects who have a recognised age-related alteration in the metabolism of AA.…”

Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials testing the effects of vitamin C supplementation on blood lipids

“…Trial designs included 29 parallel groups and 11 crossover studies. Two studies had two independent subgroups [23,24], therefore the total number of trials included was 42 (Table 1). Thirty-seven trials reported the effect of vitamin C supplementation on serum cholesterol, 35 on serum triglycerides, 29 on serum LDL-C and 35 on serum HDL-C concentrations.…”

“…and there was one trial for each of the following: cerebrovascular disease [23], pre-hypertensive [55], hypertensive [56] and schizophrenic [57] participants. The duration of vitamin C supplementation ranged from two weeks to five years (median duration: eight weeks) and the dose of vitamin C ranged from 125 to 4500 mg per day (median dose: 1000 mg/day).…”

Vitamin C supplementation lowers serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides: a meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials

“…15 Only 13 studies of the potential 1363 abstracts met the eligibility criteria and were included in the metaanalysis. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] Fourteen separate vitamin C supplementation groups were identified from these 13 studies. Participant and study design characteristics for the 14 groups included in the meta-analysis are presented in Table 1.…”