Vitamin C treatment attenuates hemorrhagic shock related multi-organ injuries through the induction of heme oxygenase-1.

Background: Vitamin C (VitC) has recently been shown to exert beneficial effects, including protecting organ function and inhibiting inflammation, in various critical care conditions, but the specific mechanism remains unclear. Induction of heme oxygenase (HO)-1, a heat shock protein, has been shown to prevent organ injuries in hemorrhagic shock (HS) but the relationship between VitC and HO-1 are still ill-defined so far. Here we conducted a systemic in vivo study to investigate if VitC promoted HO-1 expression in multiple organs, and then tested if the HO-1 induction property of VitC was related to its organ protection and anti-inflammatory effect.

Pharmacological preconditioning with vitamin C attenuates intestinal injury via the induction of heme oxygenase-1 after hemorrhagic shock in rats.

Pre-induction of heme oxygenase (HO)-1, which is regarded as an effective method of "organ preconditioning", exerts beneficial effects during hemorrhagic shock (HS). However, the available HO-1 inducers exhibit disadvantages such as toxicity or complex technical requirements. Therefore, a safe and convenient HO-1 inducer would be promising and could be exploited in the treatment of foreseeable hemorrhaging, such as prior to major surgery.