Intravenous vitamin C use and risk of severity and mortality in COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

source extracted confidence: high 2026-04-09
#ascorbic-acid #china #humans #sars-cov-2 #severity-of-illness-index

Intravenous vitamin C use and risk of severity and mortality in COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Ao et al., 2022 | Nutr Clin Pract | Meta Analysis

Citation

Ao Guangyu, Li Jing, ... Qi Xin. Intravenous vitamin C use and risk of severity and mortality in COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutr Clin Pract. 2022-Apr;37(2):274-281. doi:10.1002/ncp.10832

Abstract

The administration of intravenous vitamin C (IV-VC) in treating patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still highly controversial. There have been no previous studies on the effect of IV-VC on the severity and mortality of COVID-19. Hence, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the disease severity and mortality in patients with COVID-19 who promptly received IV-VC treatment vs those who did not. We performed a comprehensive systematic search of seven health science databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Data, up to June 23, 2021. We identified a total of seven related articles, which were included in this study. This meta-analysis showed that IV-VC treatment did not affect disease severity compared with placebo treatment or usual care (odds ratio [OR], 0.70; 95% CI, 0.45 to 1.07; P = 0.10). In addition, no statistically significant difference in mortality was observed between patients who received IV-VC treatment and those who did not (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.41 to 1.00; P = 0.05). Moreover, the adjusted meta-analysis revealed that the use of IV-VC did not influence disease severity (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.34 to 1.31; P = 0.242) or mortality (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.75 to 1.40; P = 0.877) in comparison with a control group. The results of this meta-analysis demonstrated that short-term IV-VC treatment did not reduce the risk of severity and mortality in patients with COVID-19.

Key Findings

The results of this meta-analysis demonstrated that short-term IV-VC treatment did not reduce the risk of severity and mortality in patients with COVID-19.

Outcomes Measured

  • Requires manual extraction

Population

Field Value
Population coronavirus disease 2019
Sample Size See abstract
Age Range See abstract
Condition See abstract

MeSH Terms

  • Ascorbic Acid
  • China
  • Humans
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • COVID-19 Drug Treatment

Evidence Classification

  • Level: Meta Analysis
  • Publication Types: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Systematic Review
  • Vertical: vitamin-c

Provenance

Source extracted via PubMed E-utilities API on 2026-04-09