Summary: One of the first studies of its kind shows that a high dose of sodium ascorbate, a salt related to vitamin C, can help protect the brain in brain sepsis. It can help reduce inflammation, ischemia (poor blood flow) and hypoxia (low oxygen). In the study, researchers found that this therapy may rapidly help reverse brain sepsis.
Science has long tested other ways to fight severe infections. These differ from the usual approach, which leans heavily on giving several antibiotics at once. A new study shows that one vitamin C salt can quickly reverse brain sepsis and may save lives.
The usual approach of giving more and more antibiotics has many problems. For example, many infections resist antibiotics. Infections that resist many antibiotics are rising. Antibiotics also do little against viral infections. And many people may have infections caused by more than one germ.
Some infections, like brain infections, are very hard to treat. Even when the germ is sensitive to an antibiotic, most antibiotics fail to cross the blood-brain barrier in large enough amounts. So the antibiotic level stays low in the brain. That is why brain sepsis is so hard to manage.
But managing sepsis takes more than killing the infection. It is well known that much of the damage comes from the body’s over-the-top inflammatory response to the infection. That response causes septic shock.
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So the aim of any treatment is not just to wipe out the infection. It is also to prevent septic shock. For example, one approach uses corticosteroids in very sick patients. But corticosteroids also lower immunity. They raise the risk of second or opportunistic infections. So their use is a double-edged sword.
Interventional pain management techniques are important in treating the severe inflammation and tissue damage that come with brain sepsis. Now the new study shows that sodium ascorbate, a salt of vitamin C, may be quite good at calming this over-the-top inflammatory response. Researchers say they were amazed by how well and how fast it worked in lab tests, without any side effects. So it could prevent brain ischemia, hypoxia, and brain cell death. The results in the treated group were astonishing.
In the study, researchers caused brain sepsis in an animal model with an E. coli infusion. Once the animal developed brain sepsis, they used mega doses of sodium ascorbate to revive it. These mega doses of sodium ascorbate significantly reduced inflammation markers, beyond what researchers expected. As a result, the animals recovered.
This is not the first study of its kind. Mega doses of vitamin C have long been the focus of many experiments. For example, early studies show that vitamin C mega doses may help fight certain types of cancer.
Vitamin C taken by mouth is known to reduce inflammation, boost immunity and fight oxidative stress (cell damage from unstable oxygen molecules). But when taken by mouth, not much vitamin C is absorbed. The body does store vitamin C. But those stores run out quickly during severe infections.
So, in these cases, a vitamin C infusion may do wonders. It can restore vitamin C levels right away. And its mega doses may bring some unique health benefits. It may calm inflammation in a way not seen with regular doses.
The study’s investigators say they already knew that high doses of vitamin C help in sepsis and protect the liver and kidneys. But this is the first study to show it can also help brain sepsis patients.
Source:
May, C. N., Ow, C. P., Pustovit, R. V., Lane, D. J., Jufar, A. H., Trask-Marino, A., Peiris, R. M., Gunn, A., Booth, L. C., Plummer, M. P., Bellomo, R., & Lankadeva, Y. R. (2024). Reversal of cerebral ischemia and hypoxia and of sickness behavior by megadose sodium ascorbate in ovine Gram-negative sepsis. British Journal of Anesthesia, 133(2), 316–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2024.04.058
Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP
