Vitamin C may affect lung infections

Hemilä, Harri; Louhiala, Pekka

doi:10.1177/014107680710001109

Cited by 54 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Nevertheless, by using the residual of fruit, vegetables, and berries, which has no correlation with dietary vitamin C, we were able to show that modification of the vitamin E effect is not explained by other substances in these foods, suggesting that vitamin C is the specific substance explaining the modification. Furthermore, the subgroup divisions in our current study were based on the effects of vitamin E on respiratory infections, and vitamin C has also affected respiratory infections in certain controlled trials, showing that its physiologic effects are not limited to preventing scurvy ( 28 , 29 ). Finally, the interaction between vitamins E and C is well established ( 7 – 11 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Modification of the Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on the Mortality of Male Smokers by Age and Dietary Vitamin C

Hemilä¹,

Kaprio²

2009

American Journal of Epidemiology

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The Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study (1985–1993) recruited 29,133 Finnish male cigarette smokers, finding that vitamin E supplementation had no overall effect on mortality. The authors of this paper found that the effect of vitamin E on respiratory infections in ATBC Study participants was modified by age, smoking, and dietary vitamin C intake; therefore, they examined whether the effect of vitamin E supplementation on mortality is modified by the same variables. During a median follow-up time of 6.1 years, 3,571 deaths occurred. Age and dietary vitamin C intake had a second-order interaction with vitamin E supplementation of 50 mg/day. Among participants with a dietary vitamin C intake above the median of 90 mg/day, vitamin E increased mortality among those aged 50–62 years by 19% (95% confidence interval: 5, 35), whereas vitamin E decreased mortality among those aged 66–69 years by 41% (95% CI: −56, −21). Vitamin E had no effect on participants who had a dietary vitamin C intake below the median. Smoking quantity did not modify the effect of vitamin E. This study provides strong evidence that the effect of vitamin E supplementation on mortality varies between different population groups. Further study is needed to confirm this heterogeneity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Modification of the Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on the Mortality of Male Smokers by Age and Dietary Vitamin C

Hemilä¹,

Kaprio²

2009

American Journal of Epidemiology

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“…During acute infection, a higher dose of vitamin C is required to meet the increased metabolic demand. According to the United States nutritional recommendation, the tolerable upper limit of the daily dose of vitamin C is 2 g [ 99 ]. Doses higher than 2 g/day can cause diarrhoea, abdominal pain and nausea, which are self-limited once the dose is reduced [ 99 , 100 ].…”

Section: The Safety Profile Of Vitamin Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the United States nutritional recommendation, the tolerable upper limit of the daily dose of vitamin C is 2 g [ 99 ]. Doses higher than 2 g/day can cause diarrhoea, abdominal pain and nausea, which are self-limited once the dose is reduced [ 99 , 100 ]. There is a concern that high dose of vitamin C (10 g/day) could lead to a supraphysiological level of vitamin C which causes oxaluria and increases the risk of oxalate nephropathy and oxalate kidney stone [ 101 , 102 ].…”

Section: The Safety Profile Of Vitamin Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of the possible role of vitamin C in management of COVID-19

2020

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The mainstay of management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is mainly supportive as to date there is no effective antiviral treatment, apart from remdesivir which has been approved by Food and Drug administration (FDA) for treatment of COVID-19, or vaccine. Supplementation with micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, has gained an increasing interest as part of the supportive management of COVID-19. Vitamin C levels in serum and leukocytes are depleted during the acute stage of infection owing to increased metabolic demands. High-dose vitamin C supplement helps to normalise both serum and leukocytes vitamin C levels. Vitamin C has multiple pharmacological characteristics, antiviral, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects, which make it a potential therapeutic option in management of COVID-19. The use of high dose of intravenous vitamin C for management of COVID-19 in China and the United Stated has shown promising results. There were no reported adverse reactions with the short-term use of high dose of vitamin C. Given the fact that vitamin C is cheap, available and safe drug with beneficial effects in management of viral infections and critically ill patients reported in previous clinical trials, it is sensible to add it to COVID-19 management protocol particularly if the current ongoing clinical trials testing the effect of vitamin C in management of COVID-19 show positive results.

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“…12 13 The importance of vitamin C on the respiratory system is also indicated by the decrease in the incidence of the common cold in people under heavy acute physical stress 14 15 and by its effects on the severity of the upper and lower respiratory tract infections. [15][16][17] Previously, a systematic review examined the effect of vitamin C on EIB. 18 However, there were substantial errors in the extraction of data and data analysis in that review.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitations Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Vitamin C may alleviate exercise-induced bronchoconstriction: a meta-analysis

Hemilä

2013

BMJ Open

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ObjectiveTo determine whether vitamin C administration influences exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB).DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.MethodsMEDLINE and Scopus were searched for placebo-controlled trials on vitamin C and EIB. The primary measures of vitamin C effect used in this study were: (1) the arithmetic difference and (2) the relative effect in the postexercise forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) decline between the vitamin C and placebo periods. The relative effect of vitamin C administration on FEV1 was analysed by using linear modelling for two studies that reported full or partial individual-level data. The arithmetic differences and the relative effects were pooled by the inverse variance method. A secondary measure of the vitamin C effect was the difference in the proportion of participants suffering from EIB on the vitamin C and placebo days.Results3 placebo-controlled trials that studied the effect of vitamin C on EIB were identified. In all, they had 40 participants. The pooled effect estimate indicated a reduction of 8.4 percentage points (95% CI 4.6 to 12) in the postexercise FEV1 decline when vitamin C was administered before exercise. The pooled relative effect estimate indicated a 48% reduction (95% CI 33% to 64%) in the postexercise FEV1 decline when vitamin C was administered before exercise. One study needed imputations to include it in the meta-analyses, but it also reported that vitamin C decreased the proportion of participants who suffered from EIB by 50 percentage points (95% CI 23 to 68); this comparison did not need data imputations.ConclusionsGiven the safety and low cost of vitamin C, and the positive findings for vitamin C administration in the three EIB studies, it seems reasonable for physically active people to test vitamin C when they have respiratory symptoms such as cough associated with exercise. Further research on the effects of vitamin C on EIB is warranted.

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Vitamin C may affect lung infections

Cited by 54 publications

References 28 publications

Modification of the Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on the Mortality of Male Smokers by Age and Dietary Vitamin C

Modification of the Effect of Vitamin E Supplementation on the Mortality of Male Smokers by Age and Dietary Vitamin C

Overview of the possible role of vitamin C in management of COVID-19

Vitamin C may alleviate exercise-induced bronchoconstriction: a meta-analysis

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