ReviewFree radical biology & medicine2009
Vitamin C function in the brain: vital role of the ascorbate transporter SVCT2.
Review in Free radical biology & medicine, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 284 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
284 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 644 citations in OpenAlex.
- The neuropsychiatric effects of vitamin C deficiency: a systematic review.BMC psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Natural Medicines for Psychotic Disorders: A Systematic Review.The Journal of nervous and mental disease · 2018Pooled it
- Metabolic and Neuroenergetic Effects of Intranasal Vitamin C Application in the Human Brain.Nutrients · 2025Trial
- Brain responses to intermittent fasting and the healthy living diet in older adults.Cell metabolism · 2024Trial
- Addition of Vitamin C Does Not Decrease Neuron-Specific Enolase Levels in Adult Survivors of Cardiac Arrest-Results of a Randomized Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Vitamin C supplementation promotes mental vitality in healthy young adults: results from a cross-sectional analysis and a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.European journal of nutrition · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Diet Quality for Sodium and Vegetables Mediate Effects of Whole Food Diets on 8-Week Changes in Stress Load.Nutrients · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Solute carrier membrane transporters: emerging targets in CNS disorders.Nature reviews. Drug discovery · 2026Review
- Review
- Beyond redox: vitamin C in signaling, epigenetic regulation and protein modification-relevance to cancer therapy.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Review
- Ascorbic Acid Neuroprotection Against Hippocampal Injury and Gliosis Induced by E621 in Albino Rats Through Modulation of GFAP, Synaptophysin, and Caspase-3.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- High-Dose Intravenous Vitamin C in Critical Illness: A Translational Exposure-Response Framework for Biomarker-Guided Precision Therapy.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review
- Unraveling the Diet-Learning Nexus: a cross-sectional deep dive into Iranian adolescents' nutrient patterns and learning difficulties.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Vitamins as Modulators of Neurodegenerative Disease Pathways: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Perspectives.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Vitamin C protects oligodendrocyte lineage cells and modulates microglial inflammation during OGD/R in vitro.Scientific reports · 2026Article
224 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Ascorbate (vitamin C) is a vital antioxidant molecule in the brain. However, it also has a number of other important functions, participating as a cofactor in several enzyme reactions, including catecholamine synthesis, collagen production, and regulation of HIF-1 alpha. Ascorbate is transported into the brain and neurons via the sodium-dependent vitamin C transporter 2 (SVCT2), which causes accumulation of ascorbate within cells against a concentration gradient. Dehydroascorbic acid, the oxidized form of ascorbate, is transported via glucose transporters of the GLUT family. Once in cells, it is rapidly reduced to ascorbate. The highest concentrations of ascorbate in the body are found in the brain and in neuroendocrine tissues such as adrenal, although the brain is the most difficult organ to deplete of ascorbate. Combined with regional asymmetry in ascorbate distribution within different brain areas, these facts suggest an important role for ascorbate in the brain. Ascorbate is proposed as a neuromodulator of glutamatergic, dopaminergic, cholinergic, and GABAergic transmission and related behaviors. Neurodegenerative diseases typically involve high levels of oxidative stress and thus ascorbate has been posited to have potential therapeutic roles against ischemic stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.