IMR Press / IJVNR / Volume 70 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.1024/0300-9831.70.5.226

International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research (IJVNR) is published by IMR Press from Volume 95 Issue 1 (2025). Previous articles were published by another publisher under a hybrid publishing model, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Hogrefe.

Original Communication

Vitamin C Concentrations in Plasma as a Function of Intake: a Meta-analysis

Show Less
Affiliation
1 Institute of Experimental Gerontology, Basel, Switzerland
2 Roche Vitamins Europe Ltd, Basel, Switzerland
3 F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Biostatics, Basel, Switzerland
Int. J. Vitam. Nutr. Res. 2000, 70(5), 226–237; https://doi.org/10.1024/0300-9831.70.5.226
Published: 14 March 2013
Abstract

The purpose of this study was to estimate the intake – plasma relationship for vitamin C by means of a meta-analysis. A MEDLINE search revealed 30 publications matching our inclusion criteria. We completed the set with 5 older papers and with one monograph. The proposed statistical model corrects for inconsistencies with regard to methodological differences between the various studies. Therefore, the contribution of a particular study to the estimation is independent of the number of data points. The estimations were performed for the complete data set as well as for different subgroups: “adult” aged 15–65 years, “elderly” aged 60–96 years, “nonsmokers” and “smokers”. The 50th percentile of the plasma concentration for a daily vitamin C intake of 60 mg was 42.4 mumol/L. The corresponding values for the different subgroups were: “adult” 44,1 mumol/L, “elderly” 31.0 mumol/L, “nonsmokers” 42,4 mumol/L, and “smokers” 33.6 mumol/L. Thus, this meta-analysis confirms earlier results that the requirements of vitamin C is higher in “elderly” and “smokers” compared to “adult” and “nonsmokers” and it can be used for the estimation of the vitamin C intake in order to achieve a desired plasma level within a target population. In the general population the assumed optimal plasma concentration of 50 mumol/L, as proposed by a consensus conference, can be achieved by the intake of 100 mg per day, which is the new recommendation of the Austrian, German, and Swiss Nutrition Societies.

Keywords
Meta-analysis
vitamin C
intake
plasma concentration
Share
Back to top