Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20581351›Full record

Trial reportReproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)2010

The impact of vitamin C supplementation in pregnancy and in vitro upon fetal membrane strength and remodeling.

Brian M Mercer, Adli Abdelrahim, Robert M Moore, Jillian Novak, Deepak Kumar, Joseph M Mansour, Marina Perez-Fournier, Cynthia J Milluzzi, John J Moore

Open access · greenAbstract readComparative StudyControlled Clinical TrialMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Efficacy of vitamin C supplementation during pregnancy in the prevention of preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Ascorbic acid intake during pregnancy.Biomedical papers of the Medical Faculty of the University Palacky, Olomouc, Czechoslovakia · 2023
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Extracellular matrix dynamics and fetal membrane rupture.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2013
    Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Brian M MercerFrom the Department of Reproductive Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44109, USA. bmm12@case.edu
Adli Abdelrahim
Robert M Moore
Jillian Novak
Deepak Kumar
Joseph M Mansour
Marina Perez-Fournier
Cynthia J Milluzzi
John J Moore
Case Western Reserve University · US

Funding

CTSA INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PEDIATRIC RESEARCHUL1RR024989 · NCRR · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · PI DAVIS, PAMELA B · 2007 to 2011
$53.7M
Zosuquidar trihydrochloride for acute myeloid leukemia &refractory anemiaM01RR000080 · NCRR · UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF CLEVELAND · PI DAVIS, PAMELA B · 1985 to 2007
$22.2M
NICHD Maternal Fetal Medicine Units NetworkU10HD040544 · NICHD · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · PI CHIEN, EDWARD K · 2001 to 2015
$7.2M
NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) NetworkUG1HD040544 · NICHD · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · PI Kelly S Gibson, Angela C. Ranzini · 2016 to 2026
$3.5M
Stretch and Apoptosis Cause Fetal Membrane RuptureR01HD048476 · NICHD · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · PI MOORE, JOHN J · 2005 to 2009
$1.6M
NCRR NIH HHS M01 RR000080NCRR NIH HHS M01 RR00080NCRR NIH HHS UL1 RR024989NICHD NIH HHS HD40544-01NICHD NIH HHS HD48476NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD048476NICHD NIH HHS U10 HD040544NICHD NIH HHS UG1 HD040544
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been suggested as a mechanism of fetal membrane (FM) weakening leading to rupture, particularly with preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes (PROM). In vitro, FM incubation with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) mimics physiological FM weakening, concomitant with generation of ROS and collagen remodeling. Proinflammatory cytokines are also postulated to have a role in the development of the FM physiological weak zone where rupture normally initiates in-term gestations. We hypothesized that antioxidant treatment may block ROS development and resultant FM weakening. Two studies examining antioxidant effects upon FM strength were conducted, one in vivo and the other in vitro. Fetal membrane of patients enrolled in a multicenter placebo-controlled trial to determine the effect of vitamin C (1 g/day) and vitamin E (400 IU/day) upon complications of pre-eclampsia were examined for FM biomechanical properties and biochemical remodeling at birth. Separately, biomechanics and biochemical markers of remodeling were determined in FM fragments incubated with TNF with or without vitamin C preincubation. Supplemental dietary vitamin C in combination with vitamin E did not modify rupture strength, work to rupture, or matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9; protein or activity) either within or outside the term FM physiological weak zone. In vitro, TNF decreased FM rupture strength by 50% while increasing MMP9 protein. Vitamin C did not inhibit these TNF-induced effects. Vitamin C alone had a weakening effect on FM in vitro. We speculate that vitamin C supplementation during pregnancy will not be useful in the prevention of preterm PROM.

Indexed as

Dietary SupplementsAdultAscorbic AcidExtraembryonic MembranesFemaleHumansMatrix Metalloproteinase 9Organ Culture TechniquesPregnancyPremature Rupture of Fetal MembranesYoung AdultAscorbic AcidMatrix Metalloproteinase 9

Identifiers

PMID20581351
PMCPMC2930608
OpenAlexW2056338992

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.