Pediatr. praxi. 2021;22(2):98-104 | DOI: 10.36290/ped.2021.018

Vitamin C, anti-infective immunity, and problems of deficiency in children

MUDr. Jan Boženský¹, prof. MUDr. František Kopřiva, Ph.D.², PharmDr. Lucie Kotlářová³, MUDr. Pavel Kostiuk, CSc.⁴, PharmDr. Zdeněk Procházka⁴, MUDr. Jiří Slíva, Ph.D.⁵

¹ Dětské oddělení Nemocnice Agel, Ostrava-Vítkovice

² Dětská klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc

³ InPharm Clinic, Jesenice u Prahy

⁴ Edukafarm, Praha

⁵ Ústav farmakologie 3. lékařské fakulty UK, Praha

Objective: To determine the occurrence of reduced levels of vitamin C in children hospitalized in pediatric departments of some hospitals in the Ostrava and Olomouc regions.

Methods: Orientational evaluation of the saturation of organism with vitamin C using indicator strips for determining the level of ascorbic acid in urine. The method is based on the action of a complex chelating agent with a polyvalent metal ion and a color indicator, which reacts in proportion to the concentration of ascorbic acid by changing the color shade.

Results: At the pediatric department of the hospital in Ostrava-Vítkovice, 23 % of children with the deepest deficiency of vitamin C levels in urine (1 mg/dl), 41 % of children with deficiency at the level of 10 mg/dl, 11 % of children with deficiency at the level of 20 mg/dl, 14 % with a deficit of 50 mg/dl were identified. Full saturation (100 mg/dl) was achieved by only 11 % of children. Thus, 75 % of children had severe vitamin C deficiency and only 25 % of children had relatively sufficient saturation. 59 % of children received pharmacotherapy at admission and hospitalization; in this subgroup, 18 % of children had a deep vitamin C deficiency of 1 mg/dl, 43 % of children had a deficiency of 10 mg/dl, 9 % of children had a deficiency of 20 mg/dl, 16 % of children had a deficiency of 50 mg/dl and 14 % was well saturated with vitamin C. In children hospitalized in Pediatric Clinic of the Olomouc University Hospital, the same examination revealed that 98 % of hospitalized children had reduced vitamin C levels.

Conclusions: The study showed that most of the examined children hospitalized at these hospitals had reduced saturation of organism with vitamin C. Due to the crucial importance of vitamin C for the immune system and other systems of the body, the results of the study indicate usefulness of at least an orientational examination of saturation of organism with vitamin C and on the basis of determined values to ensure sufficient supplementation of vitamin C, which is a prerequisite for achieving good health of children.

Keywords: vitamin C, ascorbic acid, immunity, vitamin C deficiency, screening of vitamin C in urine, diagnostic strips for vitamin C examination in urine.

Published: April 29, 2021  Show citation