Vitamin C: historical perspectives and heart failure

Abstract

Vitamin C (Vit C) is an ideal antioxidant as it is easily available, water soluble, very potent, least toxic, regenerates other antioxidants particularly Vit E, and acts as a cofactor for different enzymes. It has received much attention due to its ability in limiting reactive oxygen species, oxidative stress, and nitrosative stress, as well as it helps to maintain some of the normal metabolic functions of the cell. However, over 140 clinical trials using Vit C in different pathological conditions such as myocardial infarction, gastritis, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and cancer have yielded inconsistent results. Such a divergence calls for new strategies to establish practical significance of Vit C in heart failure or even in its prevention. For a better understanding of Vit C functioning, it is important to revisit its transport across the cell membrane and subcellular interactions. In this review, we have highlighted some historical details of Vit C and its transporters in the heart with a particular focus on heart failure in cancer chemotherapy.

Targets of Vitamin C With Therapeutic Potential for Cardiovascular Disease and Underlying Mechanisms: A Study of Network Pharmacology

“…Furthermore, a meta-analysis of RCTs showed that vitamin C supplementation has no effects on major cardiovascular outcomes such as CVD mortality and myocardial infarction (Al-Khudairy et al, 2017). There is still a need to identify the role of vitamin C in mitigating cancer treatment-induced heart failure (Malik et al, 2020) and other risks of CVD, including cardiomyopathies, arrhythmias and myocarditis/pericarditis in long-term cancer survivors (Berretta et al, 2020). However, the evidence is limited because many trials of vitamin C (and E) supplementation did not report protective effects on risks of CVD, such as blood pressure, arterial stiffness, endothelial function, or left ventricular ejection fraction.…”

Vitamin C for sepsis intervention: from redox biochemistry to clinical medicine

“…Specific transporting systems are involved in the absorption of vitamin C as well as its intracellular distribution (reviewed in [8,10]). Historically, vitamin C transport across cell membranes had been an area of extensive research in neurobiology.…”

“…This high concentration is due to selective intracellular accumulation via a vitamin C transport system present in the plasma membrane [9] (see section 'Intracellular dynamics of vitamin C' for more details). The high intracellular concentration of vitamin C in mammalian tissues is in line with its essential roles in maintaining physiological homeostasis (reviewed in [4,5,10]). In this Mini-Review, we first describe the novel redox properties and functions of vitamin C, and then discuss major recent research evidence supporting its multitasking functions in controlling oxidative stress and inflammatory responses and in treating sepsis, a major contributor to the global burden of disease.…”

Environmental Pollutants and Oxidative Stress in Terrestrial and Aquatic Organisms: Examination of the Total Picture and Implications for Human Health

“…Vitamin C is a water-soluble micronutrient ,that is, abundant in natural rich sources such as fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables (Devaki and Raveendran, 2017). Vitamin C is a powerful reducing agent and a broad-spectrum antioxidant that fights a wide range of free radicals, including ROS (Malik et al, 2021). Vitamin C is involved in the first line of antioxidant defense acting as an excellent donor of electrons for free radicals that need electrons to regain their stability (Zhitkovich, 2021).…”