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Vitamin C Supplementation for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), millions of people have died, and the medical system has faced significant difficulties. Our purpose was to perform a meta-analysis to estimate the effect of...

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Autores principales: Olczak-Pruc, Monika, Swieczkowski, Damian, Ladny, Jerzy R., Pruc, Michal, Juarez-Vela, Raul, Rafique, Zubaid, Peacock, Frank W., Szarpak, Lukasz
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9570769/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36235869
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14194217
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author Olczak-Pruc, Monika
Swieczkowski, Damian
Ladny, Jerzy R.
Pruc, Michal
Juarez-Vela, Raul
Rafique, Zubaid
Peacock, Frank W.
Szarpak, Lukasz
author_facet Olczak-Pruc, Monika
Swieczkowski, Damian
Ladny, Jerzy R.
Pruc, Michal
Juarez-Vela, Raul
Rafique, Zubaid
Peacock, Frank W.
Szarpak, Lukasz
author_sort Olczak-Pruc, Monika
collection PubMed
description Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), millions of people have died, and the medical system has faced significant difficulties. Our purpose was to perform a meta-analysis to estimate the effect of vitamin C on in-hospital mortality and the ICU or hospital length of stay for patients diagnosed with COVID-19. We conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis in the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We included studies that evaluated the effect of vitamin C supplementation, compared with standard treatment in COVID-19 patients who are ≥18 y of age. Nineteen trials were included in the meta-analysis. In-hospital mortality with and without vitamin C supplementation was 24.1% vs. 33.9% (OR = 0.59; 95%CI: 0.37 to 0.95; p = 0.03), respectively. Sub-analysis showed that, in randomized clinical trials, in-hospital mortality varied and amounted to 23.9% vs. 35.8% (OR = 0.44; 95%CI: 0.25 to 0.76; p = 0.003), respectively. In the non-randomized trials, in-hospital mortality was 24.2% vs. 33.5% (OR = 0.72; 95%CI: 0.38 to 1.39; p = 0.33), respectively. The ICU length of stay was longer in patients treated with vitamin C vs. standard therapy, 11.1 (7.3) vs. 8.3 (4.7) days (MD = 1.91; 95%CI: 0.89 to 2.93; p < 0.001), respectively. Acute kidney injury in patients treated with and without vitamin C varied and amounted to 27.8% vs. 45.0% (OR = 0.56; 95%CI: 0.40 to 0.78; p < 0.001), respectively. There were no differences in the frequency of other adverse events among patients’ treatment with and without vitamin C (all p > 0.05). The use of vitamin C reduces hospital mortality. The length of stay in the ICU is longer among patients treated with vitamin C. In terms of patient safety, vitamin C has an acceptable profile. Low doses of vitamin C are effective and safe. Despite some evidence of the usefulness of vitamin C in modifying the course of COVID-19, it is too early to modify guidelines and recommendations. Further studies, in particular randomized clinical trials, are necessary.
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spelling pubmed-95707692022-10-17 Vitamin C Supplementation for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Olczak-Pruc, Monika Swieczkowski, Damian Ladny, Jerzy R. Pruc, Michal Juarez-Vela, Raul Rafique, Zubaid Peacock, Frank W. Szarpak, Lukasz Nutrients Article Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), millions of people have died, and the medical system has faced significant difficulties. Our purpose was to perform a meta-analysis to estimate the effect of vitamin C on in-hospital mortality and the ICU or hospital length of stay for patients diagnosed with COVID-19. We conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis in the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We included studies that evaluated the effect of vitamin C supplementation, compared with standard treatment in COVID-19 patients who are ≥18 y of age. Nineteen trials were included in the meta-analysis. In-hospital mortality with and without vitamin C supplementation was 24.1% vs. 33.9% (OR = 0.59; 95%CI: 0.37 to 0.95; p = 0.03), respectively. Sub-analysis showed that, in randomized clinical trials, in-hospital mortality varied and amounted to 23.9% vs. 35.8% (OR = 0.44; 95%CI: 0.25 to 0.76; p = 0.003), respectively. In the non-randomized trials, in-hospital mortality was 24.2% vs. 33.5% (OR = 0.72; 95%CI: 0.38 to 1.39; p = 0.33), respectively. The ICU length of stay was longer in patients treated with vitamin C vs. standard therapy, 11.1 (7.3) vs. 8.3 (4.7) days (MD = 1.91; 95%CI: 0.89 to 2.93; p < 0.001), respectively. Acute kidney injury in patients treated with and without vitamin C varied and amounted to 27.8% vs. 45.0% (OR = 0.56; 95%CI: 0.40 to 0.78; p < 0.001), respectively. There were no differences in the frequency of other adverse events among patients’ treatment with and without vitamin C (all p > 0.05). The use of vitamin C reduces hospital mortality. The length of stay in the ICU is longer among patients treated with vitamin C. In terms of patient safety, vitamin C has an acceptable profile. Low doses of vitamin C are effective and safe. Despite some evidence of the usefulness of vitamin C in modifying the course of COVID-19, it is too early to modify guidelines and recommendations. Further studies, in particular randomized clinical trials, are necessary. MDPI 2022-10-10 /pmc/articles/PMC9570769/ /pubmed/36235869 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14194217 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Olczak-Pruc, Monika
Swieczkowski, Damian
Ladny, Jerzy R.
Pruc, Michal
Juarez-Vela, Raul
Rafique, Zubaid
Peacock, Frank W.
Szarpak, Lukasz
Vitamin C Supplementation for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
title Vitamin C Supplementation for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
title_full Vitamin C Supplementation for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
title_fullStr Vitamin C Supplementation for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Vitamin C Supplementation for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
title_short Vitamin C Supplementation for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
title_sort vitamin c supplementation for the treatment of covid-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9570769/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36235869
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14194217
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