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AllanfromWales1 t1_j95r1p4 wrote

And non-pharmacological Vitamin C? Should I just stop eating fruit and veg and just take supplements instead?

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laserinlove t1_j95u29x wrote

The authors are using the term pharmacological to refer to plasma concentrations that are only achievable by IV administration.

Per the authors, the body regulates Vitamin C to 80-100uM so you can't just consume more of it. IV administration however gets around the natural intestinal absorption limits.

So unless you plan to shoot up your supplements, this doesn't seem applicable to typical person just yet. Though I must say I'm imagining a funny skit where we see what appears to be a drug den of people shooting up and it's a bunch of natural herbalist types cooking up and injecting vitamin c from a pile of oranges.

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RepresentativeFox149 t1_j95sgix wrote

Emphasis added.

“The intracellular VC concentration is strictly regulated in order to maintain levels of 80–100 μM in the plasma [2, 3]. However, intravenous injection bypasses this strict regulation, allowing specific VC concentrations to be maintained within a specified period, thereby providing a pharmacological basis for its therapeutic application [4]. Several pioneering studies have demonstrated the efficacy of pharmacological VC in improving the survival of patients with advanced cancers [5, 6]. In contrast, two randomized double-blind controlled trials failed to demonstrate any benefit of VC against advanced malignant disease [7, 8]. Therefore, the route of administration is important for high-dose VC to have a therapeutic effect, and only intravenous administration results in sufficiently high plasma and urine concentrations to allow potential antitumor activity [9].”

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Solid-Brother-1439 t1_j95rggq wrote

No dude. The study focus on pharmacological vitamin c. That's it.

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AllanfromWales1 t1_j95rrvn wrote

Unless the authors believe there's a difference between pharmacological and natural vitamin C they should just say 'vitamin C'. Otherwise it makes it sound like it's work that's been done by or for a supplement company.

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shiny_brine t1_j95vmua wrote

The difference is delivery. Pharmacological is delivered in a manner that bypasses natural VC regulation and can achieve much higher concentrations.

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AllanfromWales1 t1_j95wnnq wrote

Understood. Fair enough. Genuine follow up question: Why does the body regulate to prevent higher concentrations?

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shiny_brine t1_j967hy2 wrote

To simplify a very complex system, there are four main uptake paths for VC (passive diffusion, facilitated diffusion, active transport and recycling through the kidneys). Difference subsystems (brain, lungs, heart, muscles etc.) can each tolerate different levels of vitamin C and regulate levels through the use of different uptake paths. These levels are lower than the levels discussed in the paper obtained through intravenous means. If the body were exposed to long term high levels as discussed in the paper, there would be concerns of damage to many of the systems that need to regulate much lower levels. If one where to ingest large doses it would mostly go through the recycle system and be removed by the kidneys before it would get to the sub-systems.

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Solid-Brother-1439 t1_j95s4hs wrote

It might be a difference. Or not. I believe the term was used because the study was done on supplement vit c.

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Gandblaster t1_j95repo wrote

Whole fruits have synergistic effect with all the nutrients they offer. Is this a sarcastic question?

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AllanfromWales1 t1_j95s3b2 wrote

> Is this a sarcastic question?

Indeed. The way it's worded almost sounds like marketing.

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crazyhadron t1_j95rozz wrote

>Pharmacological vitamin C (VC) is a potential natural compound for cancer treatment.

Pretty sure they are the same thing (abscorbic acid). Chemistry's chemistry, whether it be from a fruit or from someone's lab

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shiny_brine t1_j95vewl wrote

It's the delivery that's different. This is intravenous and bypasses natural regulation, thus providing concentrations not easily obtained otherwise.

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Still-WFPB t1_j95rz1j wrote

I havnt reddit. Biochemistry grad. The distinction I think pharmacological is making... is that they isolated variables by simply using ascorbic acid.

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TheCrimsonSteel t1_j95utvd wrote

Looks like the other big thing was giving it by IV so they could get to concentrations that would normally capped by the body's regulation mechanisms?

2 or 3 comments up another Redditor breaks down the difference

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