Vitamin C and human wound healing.

Abstract

Clinical studies provide evidence that wound healing in subjects judged not deficient in vitamin C can be significantly accelerated with supplements of this nutrient above the recommended daily allowance (RDA). The authors administered daily dosages of 500 to 3,000 mg., which is roughly 8 to 50 times the RDA of 60 mg., to subjects recovering from surgery, other injuries, decubital ulcers, and leg ulcers induced by hemolytic anemia. Genetic impairment of collagen synthesis has also been observed to be responsive to ascorbic acid supplementation in an 8-year-old boy with Type VI Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Four grams of ascorbic acid daily produced a significant improvement in the quality of newly synthesized collagen but did not alter that formed prior to the supplementation of C. The combined evidence in this review provides a substantial base for further research, both clinical and experimental trials, concerning the interrelationships between vitamin C and the body's healing potential.

• Authors: W M Ringsdorf Jr, E Cheraskin
• Journal: Oral surgery, oral medicine, and oral pathology (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol) Vol. 53 Issue 3 Pg. 231-6 (Mar 1982) ISSN: 0030-4220 [Print] United States
• PMID: 7038579 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Collagen
• Ascorbic Acid

Topics

• Adult
• Animals
• Ascorbic Acid (administration & dosage, pharmacology)
• Child
• Collagen (biosynthesis, genetics)
• Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (drug therapy)
• Female
• Guinea Pigs
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Pressure Ulcer (drug therapy)
• Rabbits
• Surgical Procedures, Operative
• Time Factors
• Wound Healing (drug effects)
• Wounds and Injuries (physiopathology)