Effect of high-dose intravenous ascorbic acid on microcirculation and endothelial glycocalyx during sepsis and septic shock: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study

Previous studies indicate supplemental vitamin C improves microcirculation and reduces glycocalyx shedding in septic animals. Our randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial aimed to investigate whether a high dose of intravenous ascorbic acid (AA) might improve microcirculation and affect glycocalyx in septic patients. In our study, 23 septic patients were supplemented with a high dose (50 mg/kg every 6 h) of intravenous AA or placebo for 96 h. Sublingual microcirculation was examined using a handheld Cytocam-incident dark field (IDF) video microscope. A sidestream dark field video microscope (SDF), connected to the GlycoCheck software (GlycoCheck ICU®; Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands), was employed to observe glycocalyx. We found a significantly higher proportion of perfused small vessels (PPV) 6 h after the beginning of the trial in the experimental group compared with placebo. As an indicator of glycocalyx thickness, the perfused boundary region was lower in capillaries of the 5–9 μm diameter in the AA group than placebo after the first dose of AA. Our data suggest that high-dose parenteral AA tends to improve microcirculation and glycocalyx in the early period of septic shock. The study was retrospectively registered in the clinicaltrials.gov database on 26/02/2021 (registration number NCT04773717). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12871-023-02265-z.