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01.02.2025

Vitamin C, the not-so secret weapon against flu

When flu viruses or other viruses invade cells, the body produces interferon to alert the immune system. This is one of the first steps the immune system takes to stop pathogens. The sooner this happens, the less chance of illness - and the less chance of serious illness. According to an older Asian animal study, vitamin C plays a crucial role in this.

Study
In 2013, South Korean immunologists at Seoul National University published an animal study in which they experimented with Gulo-(-/-) mice. These are mice that, like humans, cannot produce vitamin C. The gene that codes for the enzyme L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase [Gulo], which synthesizes vitamin C in many organisms, does not work. In this respect, these mice are like us, Homo sapiens.

In 2013, South Korean immunologists at Seoul National University published an animal study in which they experimented with Gulo-(-/-) mice. These are mice that, like humans, cannot produce vitamin C. The gene that codes for the enzyme L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase [Gulo], which synthesizes vitamin C in many organisms, does not work. In that respect, these mice are like us, Homo sapiens.

Half of the Gulo-(-/-) mice received vitamin C in their food, the other half did not.

The Koreans infected the test animals with an H3N2 influenza virus and watched how they fared. The researchers did the same with healthy mice with a functioning Gulo gene [WT].

Results
After infection, all mice in the WT group and in the group of Gulo mice that received vitamin C survived. In the Gulo group that did not receive vitamin C, 70 percent died within 5 days.

Vitamin C supplementation made it more difficult for H3N2 viruses to replicate in the lungs of the Gulo mice. You can see this above.

Below you can probably see how vitamin C sabotages the replication of viruses. Click on figure for a larger version.

A sufficient concentration of vitamin C is apparently a prerequisite for the response of interferon-alpha and -beta after infection. When healthy cells are infected with a virus, increased interferon release causes immune cells to eliminate those cells.

At the same time, the production of cytokines such as interleukin 1-beta and TNF-alpha increased more after infection in the Gulo mice that did not receive vitamin C than in the supplemented lab animals. This indicates intense immune reactions, with which the body tries to get the infection under control - but which can also cause considerable damage.

Conclusion
"Vitamin C plays a critical role in vivo anti-viral immune responses against influenza virus through the increase of interferon-alpha/beta production", write the Koreans.

"Therefore, it might be possible that maintaining sufficient levels of vitamin C in plasma by continuous uptake through the diet or supplement could effectively prevent in vivo pathogenesis of influenza virus at the initial stage of viral infection."

Combinations
There are indications that co-supplementation with zinc, L-arginine and quercetin can enhance the antiviral effect of vitamin C. We are not telling the readers of this free web magazine anything new, but we are writing it down anyway for the sake of completeness.

Source:
Immune Netw. 2013 Apr;13(2):70-4.

More:
This dose of vitamin C makes your cells inaccessible to coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 05.09.2024
Half a gram of vitamin C rejuvenates your immune system 29.07.2024

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Supplement with 500 milligrams of vitamin C increases survival chances in life-threatening covid by a factor of 5 A daily dose of 500 milligrams of vitamin C increases the survival chances of critically ill covid patients.	Get over colds faster thanks to a combination of zinc and vitamin C German researchers gave several dozen cold patients a gram of vitamin C and 10 milligrams of zinc, and saw that this combination shortened the healing process by days.	Infected with corona? You need more vitamin C If you consume a substantial amount of vitamin C every day, you could be protected against the negative impact of a corona infection.