Vitamin C in Cardiovascular Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Evidence and Therapeutic Applications
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is an essential nutrient that humans cannot synthesize, making its intake crucial for health. Discovered nearly a century ago, vitamin C is widely recognized for its ability to prevent scurvy and has become one of the most commonly used supplements. Beyond its...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Antioxidants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/14/5/506 |
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| author | Yichen Xu Huabo Zheng Ioana Slabu Elisa Anamaria Liehn Mihaela Rusu |
| author_facet | Yichen Xu Huabo Zheng Ioana Slabu Elisa Anamaria Liehn Mihaela Rusu |
| author_sort | Yichen Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is an essential nutrient that humans cannot synthesize, making its intake crucial for health. Discovered nearly a century ago, vitamin C is widely recognized for its ability to prevent scurvy and has become one of the most commonly used supplements. Beyond its antioxidant activity, vitamin C is pivotal in regulating lipid metabolism, promoting angiogenesis, enhancing collagen synthesis, modulating remodeling, and stabilizing the extracellular matrix. While preclinical studies have shown promising results, clinical trials have yielded inconsistent findings, due to suboptimal study design, results misinterpretation, and misleading conclusions. This review provides a holistic overview of existing evidence on the pleiotropic role of vitamin C in cardiovascular diseases, identifying both the strengths and limitations of current research and highlighting gaps in understandings in vitamin C’s underlying mechanisms. By integrating molecular insights with clinical data and evaluating the pleiotropic role of vitamin C in cardiovascular disease management and prevention, this review aims to guide future research toward personalized, evidence-based therapeutic strategies in clinical practice. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1df25b2cc9a2431cb15fb2a271979d4c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3921 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antioxidants |
| spelling | doaj-art-1df25b2cc9a2431cb15fb2a271979d4c2025-08-20T03:47:48ZengMDPI AGAntioxidants2076-39212025-04-0114550610.3390/antiox14050506Vitamin C in Cardiovascular Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Evidence and Therapeutic ApplicationsYichen Xu0Huabo Zheng1Ioana Slabu2Elisa Anamaria Liehn3Mihaela Rusu4Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medicine and Life Sciences, Hainan Medical University, Haikou 571199, ChinaDepartment of Cardiology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou 350001, ChinaInstitute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Helmut Schmidt University, 22043 Hamburg, GermanyInstitute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, GermanyVitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is an essential nutrient that humans cannot synthesize, making its intake crucial for health. Discovered nearly a century ago, vitamin C is widely recognized for its ability to prevent scurvy and has become one of the most commonly used supplements. Beyond its antioxidant activity, vitamin C is pivotal in regulating lipid metabolism, promoting angiogenesis, enhancing collagen synthesis, modulating remodeling, and stabilizing the extracellular matrix. While preclinical studies have shown promising results, clinical trials have yielded inconsistent findings, due to suboptimal study design, results misinterpretation, and misleading conclusions. This review provides a holistic overview of existing evidence on the pleiotropic role of vitamin C in cardiovascular diseases, identifying both the strengths and limitations of current research and highlighting gaps in understandings in vitamin C’s underlying mechanisms. By integrating molecular insights with clinical data and evaluating the pleiotropic role of vitamin C in cardiovascular disease management and prevention, this review aims to guide future research toward personalized, evidence-based therapeutic strategies in clinical practice.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/14/5/506vitamin Cantioxidantcardiovascular diseasesmyocardial infarctioncollagen synthesisECM remodeling |
| spellingShingle | Yichen Xu Huabo Zheng Ioana Slabu Elisa Anamaria Liehn Mihaela Rusu Vitamin C in Cardiovascular Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Evidence and Therapeutic Applications Antioxidants vitamin C antioxidant cardiovascular diseases myocardial infarction collagen synthesis ECM remodeling |
| title | Vitamin C in Cardiovascular Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Evidence and Therapeutic Applications |
| title_full | Vitamin C in Cardiovascular Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Evidence and Therapeutic Applications |
| title_fullStr | Vitamin C in Cardiovascular Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Evidence and Therapeutic Applications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vitamin C in Cardiovascular Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Evidence and Therapeutic Applications |
| title_short | Vitamin C in Cardiovascular Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Evidence and Therapeutic Applications |
| title_sort | vitamin c in cardiovascular disease from molecular mechanisms to clinical evidence and therapeutic applications |
| topic | vitamin C antioxidant cardiovascular diseases myocardial infarction collagen synthesis ECM remodeling |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/14/5/506 |
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