Association of Vitamin C Treatment with Clinical Outcomes for COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Vitamin C is an essential nutrient that serves as an antioxidant and is known to reduce the inflammatory response associated with pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but its clinical effects remain controversial. Methods:...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Healthcare (Basel) 2022-12, Vol.10 (12), p.2456
Main Authors: Huang, Wen Yan, Hong, Jiyoun, Ahn, Sung-Il, Han, Bok Kyung, Kim, Young Jun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clinical outcomes
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Dietary supplements
Health aspects
hospitalization
Meta-analysis
Mortality
Review
Systematic review
Vitamin C
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Vitamin C is an essential nutrient that serves as an antioxidant and is known to reduce the inflammatory response associated with pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but its clinical effects remain controversial. Methods: This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of vitamin C administration on the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Results: Nineteen studies were selected, of which 949 participants administered vitamin C were in the intervention group, and 1816 participants were in the control group. All-cause mortality, hospitalization duration, length of intensive care unit stay, and ventilation incidence in COVID-19 patients were analyzed. The intervention group tends to have a lower risk ratio (RR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.62 to 1.07; I2 = 58%; Q = 40.95; p < 0.01) in all-cause mortality than the control group. However, there were no significant differences in ventilation incidence, hospitalization duration, and length of ICU stay between the two groups. In the subgroup analysis for all-cause mortality, the risk ratio for RCT as study design, combination therapy, of vitamin C was lower than that of the combination therapy with other agents. A moderate dosage showed a lower RR than a higher dose. Conclusion: The results suggest that vitamin C may lower mortality in COVID-19 patients, but further large-scale studies are required to assess the role of vitamin C in the treatment of COVID-19.
ISSN:2227-9032
2227-9032
DOI:10.3390/healthcare10122456