Original title: Vitamin C and Immune Function
Vitamin C helps the skin act as a barrier and helps certain immune cells find and kill microbes. It also helps the body clear away used-up neutrophils, immune cells that attack germs, which may limit tissue damage. It supports B- and T-cells too, though its role in those cells is less clear. The abstract says deficiency weakens immunity, while infections can lower vitamin C levels as the body’s demands rise.
After a busy meal, someone has to clear the plates and scraps from the table. Leaving them there makes the mess worse, even though they were useful during dinner. In this paper, immune cells that attack germs are like the busy diners, and vitamin C helps them do their work and helps the body clear them away afterward.
Vitamin C affects the body’s barriers and several immune cells, so too little can leave people more vulnerable to infection. The abstract says prevention and treatment may require different intakes: adequate daily amounts for prevention, and much higher doses during established infections.
The abstract says the role of vitamin C in lymphocytes is less clear. It does not provide details about the evidence behind supplementation, specify which infections benefit, or establish that vitamin C supplementation works equally well for everyone. Its intake amounts are presented as guidance for prevention and treatment, not as results from a described trial.
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Vitamin C and Immune Function — Anitra C. Carr, Silvia Maggini — Nutrients — doi:10.3390/nu9111211
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.