Use of Vitamin C to Restore Endothelial Function

[mfiii]

Has anyone heard of research on the use of intravenous vitamin c or supplements for children who have had KD? There was an interesting study from China on how the acute administration of the vitamin c restored impaired endothelial dysfunction:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12544406

It was also cited in this study that recommended further study in the use of antioxidants to treat children with KD:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/8/20

I am interested because my boy just had KD last week and is awaiting his second echo. I am quite concerned about any potential long term effects on his cardiovascular health and am looking for any ways to mitigate the impact of this life-changing disease.

Thank you.

[practicing patience]

Interesting read! I have read that vitamin c is soluble and any excess is dumped though urine, but it is worthy to point out there is an LD50 or dose at which 50% of lab rats will die. The protocol in this study had vitamin c administered during the acute stage and used quite a high dose so it might be worth it to check in with a homeopathic physician if you wanted to try.

[Momcat]

That was interesting. It would be interesting to see if there are any more recent studies concerning this. Ever since our daughter was diagnosed with giant anerusyms from KD we have given her 1000 mg of fish oil daily for her arterial health. I doubt it would hurt any post-KD child to have fish oil or other arterial benefits from antioxidants, etc. Let us know what you find out regarding that echo and any other information regarding supplements. Thanks!

[kdinidaho]

I've been searching and asking and am still working on these questions you are all asking. I am mainly working on answers to Vitamin C right now- this is what has been suggested - since my daughters collagen levels in the affected tissues are weak (due to the attack of the disease) and her Vitamin C count is way down as a result. I have been told that Vitamin C is recommended because it strengthens the cell walls so taking some could help repair the tissue damage in the arteries around the heart. I was told that it is important that the liquid vitamin C be a (natural) Bioflavenoid Complex, NOT asorbic acid, which is actually damaging to the cells. We still need to verify all of this with her cardiologist and confirm that adding Bioflavenoid Complex Vit.C wont interfere with all of the medications (aspirin, Plavix, Lovenox, Beta Blocker) she is already on and that it would be safe for her since she is only 5 months old. (She was diagnosed with KD at 8 weeks of age.) We do give her a Vitamin D + Omega 3 supplement that has been approved by her doctors. I too would like to see if there are any more recent studies regarding post KD & Vit. C. I would also be interested to hear if other parents are giving their children Vitamin C.

[practicing patience]

Nothing more than what one would find in a multi-vitamin. We are on 800 iu vit D, though.

[mfiii]

That was interesting. It would be interesting to see if there are any more recent studies concerning this. Ever since our daughter was diagnosed with giant anerusyms from KD we have given her 1000 mg of fish oil daily for her arterial health. I doubt it would hurt any post-KD child to have fish oil or other arterial benefits from antioxidants, etc. Let us know what you find out regarding that echo and any other information regarding supplements. Thanks!

Momcat,
My son's second cardio showed what appeared to be an inflamed coronary artery but no aneurysms. He received a second round of IVIG and high dose aspirin. His most recent echo was normal. We believe we are "out of the woods" now, so to speak, and now I want to do everything I can for his long term health. I pray all goes well for your daughter as well, and every child who has been so afflicted.

That was all I could find as far as the studies. What I'm not clear on is whether the improvements were temporary or permanent and whether repeated IV treatments were required. Also whether there are any side effects and/or risks associated with such a treatment. Either way, I hope and pray that someone conducts further research soon so our children have a much better prognosis for long term cardiovascular health.

[liquidambar]

I found this on Taurine it says : "Taurine occurs naturally in food, especially in seafood and meat. The mean daily intake from omnivore diets was determined to be around 58 mg (range from 9 to 372 mg) and to be low or negligible from a strict vegan diet. In another study, taurine intake was estimated to be generally less than 200 mg/day, even in individuals eating a high-meat diet. According to another study, taurine consumption was estimated to vary between 40 and 400 mg/day. [7]"

Also it says: Beside helping the heart and blood vessels;

"In rats it has been shown to be effective in removing fatty liver deposits in rats, preventing liver disease".

A new problem that showed up last year in my son and an old problem for my husband.

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou - Anrob 123: we will try this and see if my son's next liver test is lower.

Also bioflavins instead of absorbic acid - well we have been trying Quercetin but we are also still on a slow release vit C too. The Quercetin is expensive though. Hate to use this stuff , wondering if it works or we are just wasting money. CoenzymeQ 10 is another one of those we take and I wonder if we are not wasting money there too. In studies that says the CoQ10 helps in heart disease the dosage is very very high like 1200mg or more.

[liquidambar]

I found this on taurine;
"Mitochondrial DNA mutations that cause mitochondrial dysfunction are responsible for a wide spectrum of human diseases, referred to as mitochondrial diseases. Pathogenic point mutations are found frequently in genes encoding mitochondrial (mt) tRNAs, indicating that impaired functioning of mutant mt tRNAs is the primary cause of mitochondrial dysfunction. Our previous studies revealed the absence of posttranscriptional taurine modification at the anticodon wobble uridine in mutant mt tRNAs isolated from cells derived from patients with two major classes of mitochondrial diseases, MELAS (mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke‐like episodes) and MERRF (myoclonus epilepsy associated with ragged red fibers). Defective taurine modification of the mutant mt tRNAs results in a deficiency in protein synthesis as the cognate codons of the mutant mt tRNA cannot be decoded. These findings represent the first evidence of a molecular pathogenesis caused by an RNA modification disorder. WIREs RNA 2011 2 376–386 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.65 "

http://wires.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WiresAr ... RNA65.html


Here is another one that maybe of some interest-- please look it up and read about it on your own, lots of information on it.
N-acetyl cysteine;
it seems to be important and a lot of the big researchers are looking at it with intense interest. It is rather cheap and mentioned often in mitrochondrial cytopathy research papers.

Between this and the low carb diet my husband to our surprise and his pulmogology doctors surprise - his oxygen level went up and he was able to stop using oxygen as he walked around and then to our surprise he did not even need it at night either. One small victory, and hoping for others, esp for my children.

[liquidambar]

What happened to anrob 123's coments on taurine?
I wanted to read the link one more time?

Can you when you edit your comments - delete them all together?

[Kristopher]

Hi mfiii and great question. I have seen they are doing some studies of late on how much Vitamin C affects cardiovascular health. According to most information sources, vitamin C is largely responsible for tissue integrity which is crucial when it comes to arterial walls. I found this article on a study that relates vitamin C to cardiovascular health: http://www.cforyourself.com/Conditions/ ... sease.html - It certainly seems to point to the important role it plays. Specialists on this subject, like the ones who did this study, seem to agree on that.