Vitamin C in sepsis

Excerpt

Vitamin C has a remarkable place in the history of medicine (Fig. 1) [1]. As sepsis treatment, it has recently been the subject of intense research. The idea that vitamin C might be an efficacious sepsis treatment has a sound biological basis [2]. Humans cannot synthesise vitamin C and plasma levels are often extremely low in critical illness. Vitamin C is a key antioxidant and its deficiency causes oxidative stress. Vitamin C is an essential cofactor to convert dopamine to noradrenaline and for synthesis of vasopressin. It promotes degradation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α suppressing activation of genes associated with impaired mitochondrial oxygen handling. Vitamin C is present in neutrophils and supports chemotaxis and the oxidative burst.

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