Potential Role of Vitamin C Intracoronary Administration in Preventing Cardiac Injury After Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction

The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of intravenous (IV) and intracoronary administration of Vitamin C on the incidence of periprocedural myocardial injury in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

In this prospective, double‑blind, randomized clinical trial, that was conducted in Tehran Heart Center, Iran, between October 2016 and March 2017, 252 patients undergoing primary PCI were enrolled to receive either 3 g of IV Vitamin C before PCI and 100 mg of intracoronary Vitamin C during PCI in addition to the routine treatment (n = 126) or just the routine treatment (n = 126). Cardiac biomarkers were measured before and then 6 and 12 h postprocedurally. We determined the occurrence of contrast‑induced acute kidney injury (CI‑AKI), according to the levels of serum creatinine, neutrophil gelatinase‑associated lipocalin, and platelet activation biomarker (P‑selectin) in a subset of 119 patients before and 6 h after PCI.

In the patients who received Vitamin C, the serum levels of troponin T after 12 h and creatine kinase‑MB after 6 h were significantly lower than those in the placebo group (P = 0.003 and P = 0.00, respectively). CI‑AKI occurred in 6 (4.7%) patients in the study group and 8 (6.3%) patients in the control group; there was no significant reduction in CI‑AKI in the study group. In addition, the two groups were statically similar as regards the changes in the level of P‑selectin.

In primary PCI patients, the prophylactic use of IV and intracoronary Vitamin C can confer additional clinical benefits such as cardioprotection