Vitamin C and human diseases: An overview

Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry, 2013

The recognition of vitamin C is associated with a history of an unrelenting search for the cause of the ancient haemorrhagic disease scurvy. Isolated in 1928, vitamin C is essential for the development and maintenance of connective tissues. It plays an important role in bone formation, wound healing and the maintenance of healthy gums. Vitamin C plays an important role in a number of metabolic functions including the activation of the B vitamin, folic acid, the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids and the conversion of the amino acid, tryptophan, to the neurotransmitter, serotonin. It is an antioxidant that protects body from free radical damage. It is used as therapeutic agent in many diseases and disorders. Vitamin C protects the immune system, reduces the severity of allergic reactions and helps to fight off infections. However the significance and beneficial effect of vitamin C in respect to human disease such as cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and metal toxicity however remains equivocal. Thus further continuous uninterrupted efforts may open new vistas to understand its significance in disease management.

International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2022

Ascorbic acid or Vitamin C is very important in our body because of its antioxidant property. But the main problem; that vitamin C uses is to maintain the stability as well as its drug distribution system. Vitamin C also plays a protective role in diabetes, cancer, heavy metal toxicity or poisoning, etc. Vitamin C is found in many sources present in nature, including tomatoes, broccoli, etc. Many factors in the body, as well as outside the body, affect the content of vitamin C in the body or sources like the season, climate, and pollution affect the content in fruits and vegetables besides sex, age, pregnancy, lactation, etc. affect the vitamin C content in the body. It is extensively used in the common cold, wound healing process, cancer, heavy metal poisoning or toxicity, and even in men's fertility. In this article, we focused on the general aspects: its bioavailability, sources, its toxicity and deficiency, and factors affecting vitamin C level as well as its use in humans. ...

International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2022

Ascorbic acid or Vitamin C is very important in our body because of its antioxidant property. But the main problem; that vitamin C uses is to maintain the stability as well as its drug distribution system. Vitamin C also plays a protective role in diabetes, cancer, heavy metal toxicity or poisoning, etc. Vitamin C is found in many sources present in nature, including tomatoes, broccoli, etc. Many factors in the body, as well as outside the body, affect the content of vitamin C in the body or sources like the season, climate, and pollution affect the content in fruits and vegetables besides sex, age, pregnancy, lactation, etc. affect the vitamin C content in the body. It is extensively used in the common cold, wound healing process, cancer, heavy metal poisoning or toxicity, and even in men's fertility. In this article, we focused on the general aspects: its bioavailability, sources, its toxicity and deficiency, and factors affecting vitamin C level as well as its use in humans. In the last, we conclude, the excess or lack of Vitamin C, both conditions have affected the human body in a significant range. It plays a protective role against many disorders and is required for kids, men, women, and even old-aged patients.

Journal of critical reviews, 2020

Vitamin C is an organic compound with chemical formula C6H8O6 and earlier called as Hexuronic acid. In many plant and creature species, it is essential to life and is central to people's fundamental dietary chart. There is always a popular topic of debate and study about how vitamin C is beneficial to alleviate different human health conditions. Upon review of numerous pieces of literature, researchers found that vitamin C would actually treat many health conditions in humans to a certain degree. This review highlights the role of Vitamin C on Common Cold, Asthama, BP, Fertility, Immunity, tissue Regeneration and Cancer. Vitamin C, in particular, is an appealing product for advertisers to understand the implications and results of the consumption of vitamin C. However, this can differ from one patient to another. The ill impact of vitamin C utilization as core drug should not be overlooked either.

2019

Nutrients

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) has been known as an antioxidant for most people. However, its physiological role is much larger and encompasses very different processes ranging from facilitation of iron absorption through involvement in hormones and carnitine synthesis for important roles in epigenetic processes. Contrarily, high doses act as a pro-oxidant than an anti-oxidant. This may also be the reason why plasma levels are meticulously regulated on the level of absorption and excretion in the kidney. Interestingly, most cells contain vitamin C in millimolar concentrations, which is much higher than its plasma concentrations, and compared to other vitamins. The role of vitamin C is well demonstrated by miscellaneous symptoms of its absence—scurvy. The only clinically well-documented indication for vitamin C is scurvy. The effects of vitamin C administration on cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and infections are rather minor or even debatable in the general population. Vitamin C is r...

Frontiers in Bioscience, 2013

Though most animals are able to endogenously synthesize large quantities of vitamin C, humans do not have the capability to synthesize vitamin C due to a series of mutations of the gene encoding gulonolactone oxidase which catalyses the last enzymatic step in ascorbate synthesis (3, 4). However, the requirement for vitamin C is satisfied by natural sources and vitamin C supplements existing in the ordinary diet. The lack of vitamin C causes scurvy, a pathological condition leading to blood vessel fragility, connective tissue damage, fatigue, and, finally, death. In addition to poor dietary intake of vitamin C, alcoholism (5), elderly age, socioeconomic deprivation (6), mental illness , malabsorption disorders, kidney failure, hemodialysis (8), and peritoneal dialysis (9) have been identified as risk factors for low vitamin C endogen levels and developing clinical symptoms of scurvy (10-12). Intake of 10 mg per day of vitamin C is appropriate to prevent scurvy. This amount results in plasma concentrations of vitamin below 10 µM, already higher than that necessary to prevent scurvy (13). However, the current recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin C for adult men and women, is set at 75 mg/day for women and 90 mg/day for men .

CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2001

US government work, not subject to copyright P harmacokinetic data are now available for the absorption, plasma concentrations and renal excretion of vitamin C. With these new insights, it is worth reconsidering the clinical role of vitamin C in scurvy and subclinical deficiency, the amount of vitamin C required for good health and, in particular, the speculative use of high doses of vitamin C to treat cancer.

Oral Diseases, 2016

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), the antiscorbutic vitamin, cannot be synthesized by humans and other primates, and has to be obtained from diet. Ascorbic acid is an electron donor and acts as a cofactor for fifteen mammalian enzymes. Two sodium-dependent transporters are specific for ascorbic acid, and its oxidation product dehydroascorbic acid is transported by glucose transporters. Ascorbic acid is differentially accumulated by most tissues and body fluids. Plasma and tissue vitamin C concentrations are dependent on amount consumed, bioavailability, renal excretion, and utilization. To be biologically meaningful or to be clinically relevant, in vitro and in vivo studies of vitamin C actions have to take into account physiologic concentrations of the vitamin. In this paper, we review vitamin C physiology; the many phenomena involving vitamin C where new knowledge has accrued or where understanding remains limited; raise questions about the vitamin that remain to be answered; and explore lines of investigations that are likely to be fruitful.

Background: The importance of vitamin C as a way to prevent scurvy has been known for centuries. More recent research on vitamin C has expanded beyond scurvy prevention, providing promising evidence for additional health benefits and clinical applications. This review of scientific literature will evaluate many aspects of vitamin C including deficient versus optimal blood plasma levels, adequate daily amounts necessary to maintain ideal levels, and the safety of higher doses. It will also focus on the importance of vitamin C as a powerful bioactive compound, and its utilization in the prevention and management of different chronic diseases. This review is necessary to express the importance of alternative healthcare methods in both preventative and clinical care. Vitamin C was chosen as a representative of this concept due to its powerful antioxidant capacity, incredibly important physiological implications, and very minimal chance of side-effects. This review focuses on studies involving human participants that address how vitamin C is important for our health.