Is Vitamin C Supplementation Beneficial on Plasma Levels of Vitamin C and Total Anitioxidants for Pediatric Thalassemic Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation?

Background: Thalassemic patients undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) are faced with cumulative high level of oxidative stress and depletion of critical antioxidants. Administration of antioxidants, is promising towards minimizing oxidative damage in both thalassemic and HSCT patients. Method: This was a prospective cross-sectional observational study. Patients as a part of institutional protocol were received Vitamin C (Vit C) (all the patients received oral Vit C; 200 mg and 400 mg Vit C, if they were less or more than 20 kg respectively plus 10 mg/kg/day intravenous infusion of Vit C).We measured plasma Vit C and total antioxidant (TAs) levels at four different time points; baseline, transplantation day (0), day +7 and day +14. We calculated mean and standard error for plasma levels of Vit C and TAs. Results: Fifthy patients enrolled in this study (mean age 7.97± 3.53). In all four time points, means of Vit C and TAs serum levels were under their reference values and their highest means were belong to baseline. Serum TAs and Vit C both depleted significantly from baseline to day 0 (P: 0.00 for both variables), then increased up to day +7 and it keeps rising till day +14 (P: 0.00 from day0 to day +7 and +14 for both variables). These changes were significant through the measurement time. There is also a significant correlation between baseline Vit C and baseline TAs (P: 0.11). This means the higher level of Vit C is correlated with higher level of TAs and vice versa. Conclusion: We did not observe any beneficial effects of administering Vit C in thalassemic patients undergoing HSCT in order to increase or prevent depletion of Vit C and TAs serum levels. This could be resolved by further investigations carrying out higher doses or longer duration and having a control group.