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Cited by 160Vitamin C and Antioxidants ResearchPain Mechanisms and TreatmentsPain Management and Opioid Use

The role of vitamin C in the treatment of pain: new insights

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Carr, Anitra C., McCall, Cate·2017·Journal of Translational Medicine
DOI 10.1186/s12967-017-1179-7PMC PMC5391567
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Abstract

The vitamin C deficiency disease scurvy is characterised by musculoskeletal pain and recent epidemiological evidence has indicated an association between suboptimal vitamin C status and spinal pain. Furthermore, accumulating evidence indicates that vitamin C administration can exhibit analgesic properties in some clinical conditions. The prevalence of hypovitaminosis C and vitamin C deficiency is high in various patient groups, such as surgical/trauma, infectious diseases and cancer patients. A number of recent clinical studies have shown that vitamin C administration to patients with chronic regional pain syndrome decreases their symptoms. Acute herpetic and post-herpetic neuralgia is also diminished with high dose vitamin C administration. Furthermore, cancer-related pain is decreased with high dose vitamin C, contributing to enhanced patient quality of life. A number of mechanisms have been proposed for vitamin C's analgesic properties. Herein we propose a novel analgesic mechanism for vitamin C; as a cofactor for the biosynthesis of amidated opioid peptides. It is well established that vitamin C participates in the amidation of peptides, through acting as a cofactor for peptidyl-glycine α-amidating monooxygenase, the only enzyme known to amidate the carboxy terminal residue of neuropeptides and peptide hormones. Support for our proposed mechanism comes from studies which show a decreased requirement for opioid analgesics in surgical and cancer patients administered high dose vitamin C. Overall, vitamin C appears to be a safe and effective adjunctive therapy for acute and chronic pain relief in specific patient groups.

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Carr, A. C., & McCall, C.
Affiliations
University of Otago (NZ)
Corresponding author
Carr, Anitra C.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Translational Medicine
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2017-04-14
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
77-77
ISSN
1479-5876 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12967-017-1179-7
PMC
PMC5391567
OpenAlex
W2606879662
Cited by
160
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 2
FWCI
1.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Translational Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Health Research Council of New Zealand (16/037)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Vitamin C and Antioxidants Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Opioid Use
Keywords
vitamin C, analgesia, scurvy, complex regional pain syndrome, postherpetic neuralgia, herpetic neuralgia, cancer pain, opioid analgesics, spinal pain
MeSH terms
Analgesics, Analgesics, Opioid, Animals, Ascorbic Acid, Ascorbic Acid Deficiency, Humans, Pain

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