Vitamin C Supplementation in Hospitalized Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial
Abstract
Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a leading cause of hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality worldwide, particularly among older adults with multimorbidity and frailty. Despite advances in antimicrobial therapy, clinical outcomes have improved little, highlighting the need for safe, inexpensive adjunctive treatments. Vitamin C plays a critical role in immune function, redox homeostasis, and endothelial integrity, all disrupted during acute infection. Hypovitaminosis C is common in hospitalized patients with CAP and has been associated with increased disease severity, longer length of stay (LOS), and worse outcomes. However, prior randomized trials of vitamin C have produced inconsistent results, often focusing on critically ill patients with sepsis, using short treatment durations, and discontinuing therapy abruptly. Objective The Vitamin C in Community-Acquired Pneumonia (VitCAP) trial aims to evaluate whether high-dose oral vitamin C administered over an extended period improves clinical recovery and patient-centered outcomes in adults hospitalized with CAP. Methods VitCAP is a single-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group randomized clinical trial conducted at a tertiary hospital in Australia. Adults aged 18 years and older hospitalized with CAP will be randomized within 48 hours of admission in a 1:1 ratio to receive either oral sodium ascorbate (1 g 3 times daily for 7 days, followed by 500 mg twice daily for 30 days) or a…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 124 participants or records.
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