Adverse Effects
Many people believe vitamin C to be nontoxic and beneficial to health; therefore, the vitamin is often taken in large amounts. There is no evidence suggesting that vitamin C is carcinogenic or teratogenic or that it causes adverse reproductive effects. Reviews of high vitamin C intakes have indicated low toxicity (Johnston, 1999); adverse effects have been reported primarily after very large doses (greater than 3 g/day). Data show little increase in plasma steady-state concentrations at intakes above 200 mg/day (Figure 5-3), and saturable intestinal absorption and renal tubular reabsorption data suggest that overload of ascorbic acid is unlikely in humans (Blanchard et al., 1997; Levine et al., 1996a). Possible adverse effects associated with very high intakes have been reviewed and include: diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disturbances, increased oxalate excretion and kidney stone formation, increased uric acid excretion, pro-oxidant effects, systemic conditioning ("rebound scurvy"), increased iron absorption leading to iron overload, reduced vitamin B12 and copper status, increased oxygen demand, and erosion of dental enamel (Hornig and Moser, 1981; Rivers, 1987). The data on these adverse effects are reviewed below. The UL for vitamin C applies to intake from both food and supplements.
Gastrointestinal Effects.
Gastrointestinal disturbances such as nausea, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea are the most common adverse effects of high vitamin C intake (Hoffer, 1971). These effects are attributed to the osmotic effect of unabsorbed vitamin C passing through the intestine. Intestinal absorption of ascorbic acid occurs by a saturable process (Rumsey and Levine, 1998; Tsao, 1997). The remainder is not absorbed and is eliminated in the stool. The evidence of gastrointestinal disturbances following high vitamin C intakes is primarily from uncontrolled case reports (Hoffer, 1971; Hoyt, 1980). However, some studies have been conducted to evaluate gastrointestinal effects. Cameron and Campbell (1974) reported diarrhea, transient colic, and flatulent distension in normal healthy volunteers at doses of 3 to 4 g/day. Another study, which evaluated the adverse effects of 1-, 5-, and 10-g/day supplemental ascorbate for 5 days in apparently healthy adults, reported diarrhea in 2 of 15 subjects at 10 g/day (Wandzilak et al., 1994). Stein et al. (1976) reported mild diarrhea in one of three subjects following ingestion of 4 g of ascorbic acid.
Increased Oxalate Excretion and Kidney Stone Formation.
Controversy exists as to whether increased intake of vitamin C can significantly increase urinary excretion of oxalate and, therefore, lead to an increase in the potential for renal calcium oxalate stone formation. The findings from studies evaluating the effect of vitamin C intake (0.03 to 10 g/day) on urinary oxalate excretion in apparently healthy individuals are conflicting (Hughes et al., 1981; Lamden and Chrystowski, 1954; Levine et al., 1996a; Mitch et al., 1981; Schmidt et al., 1981; Tiselius and Almgard, 1977; Tsao and Salimi, 1984; Wandzilak et al., 1994). An intervention study by Hughes et al. (1981) reported significant increases in mean urinary oxalate excretion in 39 apparently healthy adults consuming 1, 3, 6, and 9 g/day of ascorbic acid. However, Tsao and Salimi (1984) reported normal plasma oxalate concentrations in healthy subjects ingesting 3-10 g/day of ascorbic acid for at least two years, and no significant change in urinary oxalate excretion in five of six subjects who consumed 10 g/day of vitamin C over 1 day. Levine et al. (1996a) showed increased urinary oxalate excretion in apparently healthy male volunteers consuming 1 g/day of ascorbic acid; however, mean oxalate concentrations remained within the reference range. None of these studies showed oxalate excretion above normal.
Reports of kidney stone formation associated with excess ascorbic acid intake are limited to individuals with renal disease (see Sauberlich, 1994 for a review). Data from epidemiological studies do not support an association between excess ascorbic acid intake and kidney stone formation in apparently healthy individuals (Curhan et al., 1996, 1999; Fellstrom et al., 1989). A prospective cohort study by Curhan et al. (1996) of 45,000 men aged 40 to 70 years with no history of renal calculi showed that vitamin C intake was not significantly associated with the risk of stone formation. In fact, the age-adjusted relative risk for men consuming 1,500 mg/day or more compared to less than 250 mg/day was 0.78. In addition, vitamin C intake was not associated with kidney stone formation in women (Curhan et al., 1999). The lack of findings on oxalate excretion and kidney stone formation may be explained by the limited absorption of vitamin C at doses greater than 200 mg/day (Levine et al., 1996a). Because of the limited intestinal absorption, limited amounts of vitamin C are metabolized to oxalate in the urine. In addition, the large majority of excess absorbed vitamin C is excreted in the urine as ascorbic acid rather than its degradation products.
Increased Uric Acid Excretion.
Similarly, the effect of high ascorbic acid intake on urate excretion has been studied (Berger et al., 1977; Fituri et al., 1983; Hatch et al., 1980; Herbert, 1978; Levine et al., 1996a; Mitch et al., 1981; Schmidt et al., 1981; Stein et al., 1976). Theoretically, increased uric acid excretion could be an important factor in the formation of uric acid stones especially in subjects who normally excrete large amounts of uric acid. The findings are conflicting. Levine et al. (1996a) reported significantly increased uric acid excretion above the normal range following ascorbic acid intakes of 1 g/day or more in 7 apparently healthy male subjects. Another study reported a 70 to 90 percent increase in the fractional clearance of uric acid following a single 4-g dose in nine subjects (Stein et al., 1976). Other studies have shown no significant effect of ascorbic acid intakes up to 12 g/day on uric acid excretion in apparently healthy subjects (Fituri et al., 1983; Hatch et al., 1980; Herbert, 1978; Mitch et al., 1981; Schmidt et al., 1981).
Excess Iron Absorption.
Another possible adverse effect of high vitamin C intake is enhanced iron absorption leading to iron overload. Bendich and Cohen (1990) evaluated 24 studies to determine whether daily ascorbic acid intakes (ranging from 1 to 1,000 mg, with most in the 10- to 100-mg range) could increase iron stores above recommended levels in apparently healthy individuals. They found that vitamin C intakes did not increase the number of high iron absorbers, and limited data involving ascorbic acid intakes above 100 mg/day showed no change in iron absorption values. Another study by Cook et al. (1984) showed no increase in iron stores following vitamin C intakes up to 2 g/day (taken with meals for 20 months) in iron-replete subjects who consumed foods that contain iron.
This suggests that vitamin C does not induce excess iron absorption in apparently healthy individuals. However, it is unknown if individuals with hereditary hemochromatosis, which affects between 1 in 200 and 1 in 400 persons of northern European descent (Bacon et al., 1999), could be adversely affected by long-term ingestion of large doses of vitamin C (McLaran et al., 1982).
Lowered Vitamin B12 Levels.
An in vitro study showed that increasing destruction of vitamin B12 was associated with increasing vitamin C levels (Herbert and Jacob, 1974). However, when this study was performed using different analytical procedures, no loss of vitamin B12 was observed (Newmark et al., 1976). In a review of the stability of cobalamins under varying conditions, Hogenkamp (1980) found that only aquocobalamin was decreased and destroyed by ascorbic acid. Aquocobalamin is not a major cobalamin in biological tissues. Furthermore,
results of in vivo studies in human subjects have shown that vitamin C intakes up to 4 g/day did not induce vitamin B12 deficiency (Afroz et al., 1975; Ekvall et al., 1981).
Systemic Conditioning.
Evidence of systemic conditioning (the accelerated metabolism or excretion of ascorbic acid) exists from uncontrolled observations in humans following abrupt discontinuation of prolonged, high-dose vitamin C supplementation (Rhead and Schrauzer, 1971; Siegel et al., 1982). Omaye et al. (1986) showed increased turnover of plasma ascorbic acid in apparently healthy human adults who abruptly decreased their vitamin C intake from 605 to 5 mg/day. Two other studies showed that high intakes resulted in increased clearance but did not result in blood levels lower than normal (Schrauzer and Rhead, 1973; Tsao and Leung, 1988). Other studies have reported no rebound scurvy or excessive lowering of ascorbate blood levels after cessation of high intakes (Hoffer, 1973; Ludvigsson et al., 1979). Evidence that rebound scurvy may appear in infants whose mothers ingested large doses of vitamin C during pregnancy is limited to one anecdotal report of 2 infants (Cochrane, 1965).
Overall, the evidence is inconsistent and does not suggest that systemic conditioning occurs to any significant extent in infants and adults.
Pro-oxidant Effects.
Under certain conditions, ascorbate can act as a pro-oxidant by reducing iron and copper ions, which catalyze production of the hydroxyl radical via Fenton chemistry (Buettner and Jurkiewicz, 1996). The combination of ascorbic acid and redoxactive (non-protein-bound) iron can promote lipid peroxidation in vitro (Laudicina and Marnett, 1990). In vivo however, iron is bound to proteins such as transferrin and ferritin and therefore is not normally available for such catalytic functions. Nevertheless, the strong pro-oxidant nature of the iron-ascorbate complex in vitro raises concern that consumption of vitamin C supplements by individuals with high iron stores may contribute to oxidative damage in vivo. In addition, dietary ascorbic acid can enhance the intestinal absorption of nonheme iron (Hallberg, 1985).
Concerns for a possible in vivo pro-oxidant effect of the iron-ascorbate couple were heightened by the report of a fatal cardiomyopathy in a patient with hemochromatosis who ingested excessive vitamin C (McLaran et al., 1982). Also, an association between myocardial infarctions and serum ferritin levels has been reported in a Finnish population (Salonen et al., 1992). Other studies have not supported the latter finding that high iron stores were associated with increased risk of heart disease (Baer et al., 1994) and have not indicated that excess vitamin C intakes have contributed significantly to iron overload or oxidant damage in normal healthy people. Controlled human studies in which supplemental vitamin C was added to the meals of apparently healthy adults for periods of up to 2 years showed little or no change in iron status measures including serum ferritin (Cook et al., 1984; Hunt et al., 1994). Data on iron-ascorbate combinations in the plasma of normal healthy adults and preterm infants with high plasma ascorbate levels showed that high plasma ascorbate concentrations in the presence of redox-active iron did not cause either lipid or protein oxidation. In addition, the endogenous ascorbate prevented rather than promoted lipid peroxidation in iron-overloaded plasma (Berger et al., 1997).
Similarly, concern for an in vivo pro-oxidant action of vitamin C in concert with copper has been suggested but not substantiated. Possible increased oxidant damage in premature infants had been attributed to the effect of high serum ascorbate levels inhibiting ceruloplasmin ferroxidase activity, thereby creating an excess of reactive ferrous ions (Powers et al., 1995). This result and other reports of ascorbate inhibition of ceruloplasmin ferroxidase activity (Gutteridge, 1991) have subsequently been attributed to an artifact of using a nonphysiological pH buffer in the ceruloplasmin ferroxidase assay (Løvstad, 1997).
Results of studies testing the effects of supplemental vitamin C intake on markers of oxidant damage to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and chromosomes are discussed in an earlier section and are summarized in Table 5-4, Table 5-5, and Table 5-6. The results are mixed, with studies showing a decrease, increase, or no change in oxidant damage measures. A study of 30 apparently healthy adults supplemented with 500 mg/day of vitamin C for 6 weeks reported an increase in 8-oxoadenine, but a decrease in the more mutagenic DNA lesion, 8-oxoguanine (Podmore et al., 1998). Supplementation of apparently healthy volunteers with vitamin C and iron resulted in increases in some DNA damage markers, decreases in others, and a rise in total DNA base damage at 6 weeks, which disappeared at 12 weeks (Rehman et al., 1998). Other evidence from in vitro and in vivo data as well as epidemiological studies have not shown increased oxidative DNA damage or increased cancer risk associated with high intakes of vitamin C (Block, 1991; Fontham, 1994; Fraga et al., 1991; Rifici and Khachadurian, 1993).
Other Adverse Effects. Other adverse effects observed following high vitamin C intakes include diminished high-altitude resistance (Schrauzer et al., 1975), delayed-type allergic response (Metz et al., 1980), and erosion of dental enamel (Giunta, 1983). Additional studies confirming these findings were not found.
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