Administration, Intravenous ; Ascorbic Acid/therapeutic use* ; COVID-19 ; Humans ; Pneumonia ; SARS-CoV-2

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the effect of vitamin C on post-laparoscopic shoulder pain (PLSP) in patients undergoing benign gynecological surgery during the first 72 h. METHODS: Sixty patients (aged 20 to 60 years, with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification I or II) scheduled for elective laparoscopic hysterectomy were enrolled in this study. The vitamin C group (Group C) received 500 mg of vitamin C in 50 ml of isotonic saline infusion intravenously twice a day from the day of surgery to the third day after surgery. Patients in the saline group (Group S) received the same volume of isotonic saline over the same period. Post-operative analgesic consumption, pain scores of the incision site and the shoulder, and the incidence of PLSP were all evaluated at 1, 6, 24, 48, and 72 h following surgery. RESULTS: Cumulative post-operative fentanyl consumption was significantly less in Group C at 24 and 48 h after surgery (P = 0.002, P = 0.012, respectively). The pain intensity of PLSP was also significantly lower in Group C 24 h after the operation (P = 0.002). Additionally, the incidence of PLSP was significantly lower in Group C 24 and 48 h after the operation (P = 0.002, P = 0.035, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Perioperative intravenous administration of vitamin C (500 mg, twice a day) reduced post-operative analgesic consumption and significantly lowered the pain intensity and incidence of PLSP.
Administration, Intravenous ; Ascorbic Acid ; Classification ; Female ; Fentanyl ; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures ; Gynecology ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Incidence ; Laparoscopy ; Pain, Postoperative ; Shoulder Pain ; Shoulder ; Vitamins

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to examine the effects of nutrition education with a dietary guidebook for children on dietary attitude, nutrition knowledge and nutrient intakes. METHODS: The subjects were 54 higher grade elementary students (27 educated vs. 27 non-educated). The educated group was provided individual and/or group lessons (40 min/lesson/week, 4 week) using a dietary guidebook of Children developed by The Korean Society of Community Nutrition (KSCN) & Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). The contents were Balanced Diet, Smart Food Choices, Cooking a Healthy Snack and Building a Healthy Body. We examined the differences in nutrition knowledge, dietary attitudes and dietary intake between the educated group and non-educated group. RESULTS: After education, the educated group improved dietary attitude, nutrition knowledge and qualitative nutrient intakes compared to the non-educated group. Specifically, among dietary attitudes, ‘taking a meal with salty and spicy food’ increased, while among nutrition knowledge, ‘functions of protein’, ‘functions of fat’, ‘foods with carbohydrates’, ‘foods with fat’, ‘foods with vitamins’, and ‘foods with minerals’ were increased. Nutrition adequacy ratio (NAR) scores for vitamin C, iron, and zinc were increased. CONCLUSIONS: Nutrition education using a dietary guidebook for children developed by the KSCN & KFDA had positive effects on nutrition knowledge and qualitative nutrient intakes. These findings suggest that nutrition education focused on personalized daily energy and nutrient requirements may improve dietary attitude and quantitative nutrient intakes of children.
Ascorbic Acid ; Child ; Cooking ; Diet ; Education ; Humans ; Iron ; Jeollabuk-do ; Meals ; Snacks ; United States Food and Drug Administration ; Zinc

BACKGROUND: The consumption of dietary supplements is increasing in Korea. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence, types, and trends of dietary supplement (DS) use in Korean adults. METHODS: We analyzed the Nutrition Survey data of Korean aged 19 years old or older from the 2015 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Two thousand and six hundred twenty one men and 3,324 women totaling 5,945 adults were included. The prevalence of DS use was calculated by two methods, i.e., consumption experience of more than two weeks during previous one year and current consumption. Each reported DS in the one day 24 hour recall was coded based on ingredients according to the 2016 Korean Food and Drug Administration Notification. RESULTS: The prevalence (standard error) of current DS use was 18.4% (1.2) for men, 27.4% (1.1) for women. Those with DS use for longer than two weeks during previous one year were 35.2% (1.5), and 50.4% (1.2), for men and women respectively. Multi-vitamin mineral supplement (89.6/103 persons) was the most frequently consumed DS in Korean adults followed by vitamin C (66.2/103 persons), omega 3 fatty acid (49.5/103 persons), Panax ginseng (27.3/103 persons), and probiotics (22.2/103 persons) in listing. CONCLUSIONS: The trend for DS use in Korean adults is changing as well as increasing. These factors should be considered in patient care.
Adult ; Ascorbic Acid ; Dietary Supplements ; Fatty Acids ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Minerals ; Miners ; Nutrition Surveys ; Panax ; Patient Care ; Prevalence ; Probiotics ; United States Food and Drug Administration ; Vitamins

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to examine the effects of nutrition education with a dietary guidebook for children on dietary attitude, nutrition knowledge and nutrient intakes. METHODS: The subjects were 54 higher grade elementary students (27 educated vs. 27 non-educated). The educated group was provided individual and/or group lessons (40 min/lesson/week, 4 week) using a dietary guidebook of Children developed by The Korean Society of Community Nutrition (KSCN) & Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). The contents were Balanced Diet, Smart Food Choices, Cooking a Healthy Snack and Building a Healthy Body. We examined the differences in nutrition knowledge, dietary attitudes and dietary intake between the educated group and non-educated group. RESULTS: After education, the educated group improved dietary attitude, nutrition knowledge and qualitative nutrient intakes compared to the non-educated group. Specifically, among dietary attitudes, ‘taking a meal with salty and spicy food’ increased, while among nutrition knowledge, ‘functions of protein’, ‘functions of fat’, ‘foods with carbohydrates’, ‘foods with fat’, ‘foods with vitamins’, and ‘foods with minerals’ were increased. Nutrition adequacy ratio (NAR) scores for vitamin C, iron, and zinc were increased. CONCLUSIONS: Nutrition education using a dietary guidebook for children developed by the KSCN & KFDA had positive effects on nutrition knowledge and qualitative nutrient intakes. These findings suggest that nutrition education focused on personalized daily energy and nutrient requirements may improve dietary attitude and quantitative nutrient intakes of children.
Ascorbic Acid ; Child ; Cooking ; Diet ; Education ; Humans ; Iron ; Jeollabuk-do ; Meals ; Snacks ; United States Food and Drug Administration ; Zinc

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is positively associated with atherosclerosis via elevating macrophage cell death and plaque formation, in which oxidative stress plays a pivotal role. Antioxidative, lipid-lowering, and anti-atherogenic effects of kimchi, a Korean fermented vegetable, have been established, wherein capsaicin, ascorbic acid, quercetin, 3-(4'-hydroxyl-3',5'-dimethoxyphenyl)propionic acid, and lactic acids were identified. In this study, mechanisms of action of kimchi methanol extracts (KME) on fatty streak formation via suppression of ER stress and apoptosis in aorta were examined in low-density lipoprotein receptor knockout mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mice fed a high cholesterol diet with an oral administration of KME (KME group, 200 mg·kg-bw⁻¹·day⁻¹) or distilled water (control group) for 8 weeks (n = 20 for group). Plasma lipid and oxidative stress levels were evaluated. Protein expression was measured by western blot assay. Fatty streak lesion size and the degree of apoptosis were examined in the aorta. RESULTS: Compared to the control group, in the KME group, plasma lipids levels were decreased and oxidative stress was alleviated (P < 0.05). Protein expression levels of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2-mediated antioxidants in aorta were increased whereas those for ER stress markers, glucose regulated protein 78, phospho-protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase, phospho-eukaryotic initiation factor 2 subunit α, X-box binding protein 1, and C/EBP homologous protein were decreased in the KME group (P < 0.05). Moreover, apoptosis was suppressed via downregulation of phospho-c-Jun N-terminal kinase, bcl-2-associated X protein, caspases-9, and -3 with a concomitant upregulation of anti-apoptotic protein, B-cell lymphoma 2 (P < 0.05). Fatty streak lesion size was reduced and the degree of apoptosis was less severe in the KME group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, antioxidant activity of KME might prevent fatty streak formation through, in part, inhibition of ER stress and apoptosis in aortic sinus where macrophages are harbored.
Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Antioxidants ; Aorta* ; Apoptosis* ; Ascorbic Acid ; Atherosclerosis ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; Blotting, Western ; Capsaicin ; Carrier Proteins ; Cell Death ; Cholesterol ; Diet ; Down-Regulation ; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress* ; Endoplasmic Reticulum* ; Glucose ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Lactic Acid ; Lipoproteins* ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Macrophages ; Methanol ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout* ; Oxidative Stress ; Phosphotransferases ; Plasma ; Prokaryotic Initiation Factor-2 ; Quercetin ; Receptors, Lipoprotein* ; Sinus of Valsalva ; Up-Regulation ; Vegetables ; Water

Methemoglobinemia is a condition in which the iron portion of hemoglobin, which binds to oxygen, is oxidized to produce methemoglobin, which increases blood concentration. There are many causes of methemoglobinemia, the most common being food, drugs, and chemicals. A 75-year-old male patient who had taken an herbicide did not notice any nonspecific symptoms. However, after 4 hours, his methemoglobin levels increased to 17.1%, while after 7 hours it increased to 26.5%, at which time intravenous administration of methylene blue 1 mg/kg (an antidote) was started. After a total of five doses of methylene blue at 1 mg/kg due to reactive methemoglobinemia for about 36 hours, the methemoglobin levels increased to 23.7%. Because no more methylene blue could be administered, 10 g of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) was administered intravenously. After 82 hours, ascorbic acid 10 g was administered six times for repeated reactive methemoglobinemia. No additional reactive methemoglobinemia was observed. The ventilator and endotracheal tube were successfully removed on day 5 after admission.
Administration, Intravenous ; Aged ; Ascorbic Acid* ; Humans ; Iron ; Male ; Methemoglobin ; Methemoglobinemia* ; Methylene Blue ; Oxygen ; Poisoning* ; Ventilators, Mechanical ; Vitamins*

BACKGROUND: Although there are several available management strategies for treatment of both acute pain of herpes zoster (HZ) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), it is difficult to treat them adequately. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intravenously administrated vitamin C on acute pain and its preventive effects on PHN in patients with HZ. METHODS: Between September 2011 and May 2013 eighty-seven patients who were admitted for HZ were assessed according to age, sex, underlying diseases, duration of pain and skin lesion, dermatomal distribution, and PHN. It was a randomized controlled study, in which 87 patients were randomly allocated into the ascorbic acid group and control group. Each patient received normal saline infusion with or without 5 g of ascorbic acid on days 1, 3, and 5 then answered questionnaires that included side effects and pain severity using visual analogue scale on days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. After discharge, the severity of pain was obtained at out-patient clinic or by telephone on weeks 2, 4, 8, and 16. RESULTS: There was no differences in severity of pain on patients' age, sex, underlying diseases, duration of pain and skin lesion and dermatomal distribution between two groups (p>0.05). Since 8th week, pain score in ascorbic acid treatment group was significantly lower than control group (p <0.05). The incidence of PHN was significantly lower in the treatment group compared to control group (p=0.014). The changes of overall pain score was significantly different between the two groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Intravenously administered ascorbic acid did not relieve acute HZ pain; but is effective for reducing the incidence of PHN.
Acute Pain ; Administration, Intravenous* ; Ascorbic Acid* ; Herpes Zoster ; Humans ; Incidence ; Neuralgia, Postherpetic* ; Outpatients ; Skin ; Telephone ; Vitamins*

A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) paired with UV-vis detection method to determine ascorbic acid and its oxidation product, dehydroascorbic acid, in human plasma was developed. Ascorbic acid in human plasma was extracted and stabilized using 10% metaphosphoric acid, and was analyzed by a Symmetry C18 column with 5 mM Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide and 50 mM KH2PO4 solution as the mobile phase (1.0 mL/min flow rate). Isoascorbic acid served as the internal standard and ultraviolet detector wavelength was 254 nm and 265 nm. Dehydroascorbic acid concentration was calculated from the differences in ascorbic acid concentration before and after reduction by dithiothreitol reagent. Quantification for ascorbic acid in human plasma was linear from 1–100 µg/mL. The inter- and intra-day precisions and accuracy were determined and the results were found to be within ±15%. This method was successfully applied to a human pharmacokinetic study of ascorbic acid as well as dehydroascorbic acid after oral administration of 4,000 mg vitamin C tablets to healthy Korean volunteers.
Administration, Oral ; Ascorbic Acid* ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Dehydroascorbic Acid* ; Dithiothreitol ; Humans* ; Plasma* ; Tablets ; Volunteers

No abstract available.
Aged, 80 and over ; Ascorbate Oxidase/*metabolism ; Ascorbic Acid/administration & dosage/blood/*chemistry ; Breast Neoplasms/pathology ; Cholesterol/*blood ; *Colorimetry ; Enzyme Assays ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Intravenous ; Intestine, Small/surgery ; Kidney/physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Palliative Care ; Recurrence