High-dose vitamin C intravenous infusion in the treatment of patients with COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Patients infected with a virus usually lack vitamin C. High-dose vitamin C has an antiviral effect, and has been used by several researchers to treat COVID-19 by intravenous infusion, achieving good results. However, the efficacy and safety of vitamin C in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 remain unclear. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of high-dose vitamin C infusion in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched, including PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure database, Chinese Wanfang database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature database. The aim was to collect randomized controlled trials of high-dose vitamin C infusion in the treatment of patients with COVID-19, with the retrieval time being from the establishment of the database to March 2021. In accordance with the pre-designed inclusion/exclusion criteria, all data were extracted independently by 2 researchers. To assess the risk bias in the studies, the Cochrane collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias was used to assess the risk bias in the studies, while meta-analysis was performed using Revman 5.3 software. RESULTS: In the present study, a high-quality comprehensive evaluation is provided of high-dose vitamin C infusion in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Further convincing evidence for the clinical treatment of COVID-19 is provided, in addition to evidence-based guidance for clinical practice. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021246342.