New insight on vitamin C in patients with chronic kidney disease

Patients on dialysis often develop anemia, which is accompanied by the development of substantial iron stores after administration of intravenous iron. This can be remedied in some instances with administration of supplemental vitamin C, either intravenously or orally. This is because of the mobilization of stored iron, which results in correction of anemia and in improvement of iron-indices of red cells and reticulocytes. The short red cell survival often seen in patients on dialysis creates a situation in which very large amounts of iron are needed to be supplied for new erythropoiesis, and vitamin C therefore contributes to necessary iron delivery. The safety of this therapy needs careful study so as to determine vitamin C dosage that is effective and also avoids complications of oxalosis.