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Vitamin C

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Ascorbic acid is a small, simple, water soluble molecule, synthesised by most plants and animals, with the exception of humans and some animal species due to mutations in the gene encoding the terminal enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway. For humans, it is thus a vitamin (vitamin C) that must be obtained from the diet, with complete deficiency resulting in the fatal disease scurvy. Many functions have been attributed to this fascinating molecule and, despite nearly 90 years of research since its discovery, new roles are still being uncovered, including recent discoveries that it acts as a regulator of epigenetic marks and transcription factors (1). In this volume we begin with a review by Michels and Frei on specific factors that need to be taken into consideration when carrying out vitamin C research. Translational research normally comprises a progression from in vitro/cell culture studies to animal models and finally to clinical trials. At each of these stages, there are requirements specific to vitamin C research that need to be integrated into study designs and this review describes these in detail.

Vitamin C.

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Vitamin C is synthesized by almost all animals. However, for humans, it is a vitamin that needs constant replenishment in the diet. While its role as an anti-oxidant and for preventing scurvy have been known for a long time, novel functions and unrecognized associations continue to be identified for this enigmatic molecule. In the past decade, new details have emerged regarding differences in its uptake by oral and intravenous modes. While vitamin C deficiency remains largely unknown and poorly addressed in many segments of the population, novel pharmacological roles for high-dose, intravenous vitamin C in many disease states have now been postulated and investigated. This has shifted its role in health and disease from the long-perceived notion as merely a vitamin and an anti-oxidant to a pleiotropic molecule with a broad anti-inflammatory, epigenetic, and anti-cancer profile. This Special Issue comprises original research papers and reviews on vitamin C metabolism and function that relate to the following topics: understanding its role in the modulation of inflammation and immunity, therapeutic applications and safety of pharmacological ascorbate in disease, and the emerging role of vitamin C as a pleiotropic modulator of critical care illness and cancer.

Vitamin C --- Physiological effect.

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Vitamin C. --- Quality assurance.

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Vitamin C is synthesized by almost all animals. However, for humans, it is a vitamin that needs constant replenishment in the diet. While its role as an anti-oxidant and for preventing scurvy have been known for a long time, novel functions and unrecognized associations continue to be identified for this enigmatic molecule. In the past decade, new details have emerged regarding differences in its uptake by oral and intravenous modes. While vitamin C deficiency remains largely unknown and poorly addressed in many segments of the population, novel pharmacological roles for high-dose, intravenous vitamin C in many disease states have now been postulated and investigated. This has shifted its role in health and disease from the long-perceived notion as merely a vitamin and an anti-oxidant to a pleiotropic molecule with a broad anti-inflammatory, epigenetic, and anti-cancer profile. This Special Issue comprises original research papers and reviews on vitamin C metabolism and function that relate to the following topics: understanding its role in the modulation of inflammation and immunity, therapeutic applications and safety of pharmacological ascorbate in disease, and the emerging role of vitamin C as a pleiotropic modulator of critical care illness and cancer.

Vitamin C deficiency.