TY - JOUR A1 - Dresen, Ellen A1 - Lee, Zheng-Yii A1 - Hill, Aileen A1 - Notz, Quirin A1 - Patel, Jayshil J. A1 - Stoppe, Christian T1 - History of scurvy and use of vitamin C in critical illness: A narrative review JF - Nutrition in Clinical Practice N2 - In 1747, an important milestone in the history of clinical research was set, as the Scottish surgeon James Lind conducted the first randomized controlled trial. Lind was interested in scurvy, a severe vitamin C deficiency which caused the death of thousands of British seamen. He found that a dietary intervention with oranges and lemons, which are rich in vitamin C by nature, was effective to recover from scurvy. Because of its antioxidative properties and involvement in many biochemical processes, the essential micronutrient vitamin C plays a key role in the human biology. Moreover, the use of vitamin C in critical illness—a condition also resulting in death of thousands in the 21st century—has gained increasing interest, as it may restore vascular responsiveness to vasoactive agents, ameliorate microcirculatory blood flow, preserve endothelial barriers, augment bacterial defense, and prevent apoptosis. Because of its redox potential and powerful antioxidant capacity, vitamin C represents an inexpensive and safe antioxidant, with the potential to modify the inflammatory cascade and improve clinical outcomes of critically ill patients. This narrative review aims to update and provide an overview on the role of vitamin C in the human biology and in critically ill patients, and to summarize current evidence on the use of vitamin C in diverse populations of critically ill patients, in specific focusing on patients with sepsis and coronavirus disease 2019. KW - antioxidant KW - scurvy KW - sepsis KW - vitamin C KW - critical illness KW - COVID‐19 Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-318176 VL - 38 IS - 1 SP - 46 EP - 54 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stoppe, Christian A1 - Patel, Jayshil J. A1 - Zarbock, Alex A1 - Lee, Zheng-Yii A1 - Rice, Todd W. A1 - Mafrici, Bruno A1 - Wehner, Rebecca A1 - Chan, Man Hung Manuel A1 - Lai, Peter Chi Keung A1 - MacEachern, Kristen A1 - Myrianthefs, Pavlos A1 - Tsigou, Evdoxia A1 - Ortiz-Reyes, Luis A1 - Jiang, Xuran A1 - Day, Andrew G. A1 - Hasan, M. Shahnaz A1 - Meybohm, Patrick A1 - Ke, Lu A1 - Heyland, Daren K. T1 - The impact of higher protein dosing on outcomes in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury: a post hoc analysis of the EFFORT protein trial JF - Critical Care N2 - Background Based on low-quality evidence, current nutrition guidelines recommend the delivery of high-dose protein in critically ill patients. The EFFORT Protein trial showed that higher protein dose is not associated with improved outcomes, whereas the effects in critically ill patients who developed acute kidney injury (AKI) need further evaluation. The overall aim is to evaluate the effects of high-dose protein in critically ill patients who developed different stages of AKI. Methods In this post hoc analysis of the EFFORT Protein trial, we investigated the effect of high versus usual protein dose (≥ 2.2 vs. ≤ 1.2 g/kg body weight/day) on time-to-discharge alive from the hospital (TTDA) and 60-day mortality and in different subgroups in critically ill patients with AKI as defined by the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria within 7 days of ICU admission. The associations of protein dose with incidence and duration of kidney replacement therapy (KRT) were also investigated. Results Of the 1329 randomized patients, 312 developed AKI and were included in this analysis (163 in the high and 149 in the usual protein dose group). High protein was associated with a slower time-to-discharge alive from the hospital (TTDA) (hazard ratio 0.5, 95% CI 0.4–0.8) and higher 60-day mortality (relative risk 1.4 (95% CI 1.1–1.8). Effect modification was not statistically significant for any subgroup, and no subgroups suggested a beneficial effect of higher protein, although the harmful effect of higher protein target appeared to disappear in patients who received kidney replacement therapy (KRT). Protein dose was not significantly associated with the incidence of AKI and KRT or duration of KRT. Conclusions In critically ill patients with AKI, high protein may be associated with worse outcomes in all AKI stages. Recommendation of higher protein dosing in AKI patients should be carefully re-evaluated to avoid potential harmful effects especially in patients who were not treated with KRT. Trial registration: This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03160547) on May 17th 2017. KW - acute kidney injury KW - critical illness KW - nutrition support KW - protein KW - randomized trial KW - registry trial Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357221 VL - 27 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Notz, Quirin A1 - Heyland, Daren K. A1 - Lee, Zheng-Yii A1 - Menger, Johannes A1 - Herrmann, Johannes A1 - Chillon, Thilo S. A1 - Fremes, Stephen A1 - Mohammadi, Siamak A1 - Elke, Gunnar A1 - Mazer, C. David A1 - Hill, Aileen A1 - Velten, Markus A1 - Ott, Sascha A1 - Kleine-Brueggeney, Maren A1 - Meybohm, Patrick A1 - Schomburg, Lutz A1 - Stoppe, Christian T1 - Identifying a target group for selenium supplementation in high-risk cardiac surgery: a secondary analysis of the SUSTAIN CSX trial JF - Intensive Care Medicine Experimental N2 - Background Recent data from the randomized SUSTAIN CSX trial could not confirm clinical benefits from perioperative selenium treatment in high-risk cardiac surgery patients. Underlying reasons may involve inadequate biosynthesis of glutathione peroxidase (GPx3), which is a key mediator of selenium's antioxidant effects. This secondary analysis aimed to identify patients with an increase in GPx3 activity following selenium treatment. We hypothesize that these responders might benefit from perioperative selenium treatment. Methods Patients were selected based on the availability of selenium biomarker information. Four subgroups were defined according to the patient's baseline status, including those with normal kidney function, reduced kidney function, selenium deficiency, and submaximal GPx3 activity. Results Two hundred and forty-four patients were included in this analysis. Overall, higher serum concentrations of selenium, selenoprotein P (SELENOP) and GPx3 were correlated with less organ injury. GPx3 activity at baseline was predictive of 6-month survival (AUC 0.73; p = 0.03). While selenium treatment elevated serum selenium and SELENOP concentrations but not GPx3 activity in the full patient cohort, subgroup analyses revealed that GPx3 activity increased in patients with reduced kidney function, selenium deficiency and low to moderate GPx3 activity. Clinical outcomes did not vary between selenium treatment and placebo in any of these subgroups, though the study was not powered to conclusively detect differences in outcomes. Conclusions The identification of GPx3 responders encourages further refined investigations into the treatment effects of selenium in high-risk cardiac surgery patients. KW - selenium KW - glutathione peroxidase KW - cardiac surgery KW - critical care KW - oxidative stress KW - SUSTAIN CSX Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357196 VL - 11 ER -