Nano-vitamin C: A promising candidate for therapeutic applications

Numerous research works suggest that therapeutic applications of vitamin C are heavily impacted by its low chemical stability. That being said, despite that this vitamin plays an important role in biochemical processes in human body there is a difficulty in finding a proper administration way. Authors from Qatar aimed to study main factors affecting the chemical stability of vitamin C and explore recent clinical evidence on new nano-formulations and therapeutic applications. Once vitamin C enters gastrointestinal tract with food, it easily decomposes into biologically inactive compounds. Such low stability also effects a therapeutic use if the vitamin is administered orally or intravenously. In order to preserve its stability and improve biological activity, scientists developed an encapsulated form that can be delivered in various nano carriers. These are polymeric, liposomal and micellar nano-carriers, that are described in detail in the original work. Regarding therapeutic applications of such innovative form, it can be used in anti-cancer treatment, anti-aging therapy (improving collagen genes expression), and immune boosting (promoting phagocytosis).