Comparison of plasma and leukocyte vitamin C status between asthmatic and healthy subjects

East Mediterr Health J. 2005 Jan-Mar;11(1-2):87-95.

Comparison of plasma and leukocyte vitamin C status between asthmatic and healthy subjects.

Shidfar F, Baghai N, Keshavarz A, Ameri A, Shidfar S.

Department of Nutrition, School of Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In a case-control study the vitamin C status of 50 adults with chronic controlled asthma was compared with that of 50 randomly selected healthy controls. Vitamin C intake was assessed by 3-day dietary recall, and plasma and leukocyte vitamin C concentrations were measured colorimetrically. A positive significant correlation was found between plasma vitamin C and dietary vitamin C intake. Plasma and leukocyte vitamin C levels were significantly lower in the asthma group. Plasma vitamin C was deficient (< 0.4 mg/dL) in significantly more patients than controls (38.0% versus 0%) and leukocyte vitamin C (< 20 microg/10(8) leukocytes) was deficient in 92.0% of asthmatics versus 8.0% of controls. A significant association was observed between duration of asthma and plasma vitamin C level.

PMID: 16532676 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]